When Healing Harms
The Doctor Who Put a Hospital on Trial—and the Case That Shook Psychiatry
$67.11
- Hardcover
360 pages
- Release Date
23 October 2026
Summary
The legal case that changed psychiatry and forced a reckoning within the profession.
In 1979, Dr. Raphael Osheroff admitted himself to Chestnut Lodge, a prestigious psychiatric hospital, expecting world-class care for his severe depression. Instead, he was confined to a locked ward, denied medication, and subjected to seven months of talk therapy. The experience rendered him physically frail and emotionally devastated before his parents secured his transfer to a hospi…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780520409163 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0520409167 |
| Author: | Eric Caplan |
| Publisher: | University of California Press |
| Imprint: | University of California Press |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 360 |
| Release Date: | 23 October 2026 |
| Dimensions: | 152mm x 229mm |
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Critics Review
“Eric Caplan’s fascinating medical history book When Healing Harms recounts a pivotal case of psychiatric malpractice and its consequences… a revealing exposé of medical malpractice that reconstitutes the long-silenced voice of a psychiatric patient.”
“[A]s intriguing as a legal thriller, and as incisive as a political exposé.”
* The US Review of Books *“Gripping account of a malpractice case that changed psychiatric care.”
* Publishers Weekly, Booklife *“A highly informative, richly detailed account of a hugely influential legal decision.”
* Kirkus Indie *“[When Healing Harms] fills in the layers of Osheroff’s story using primary sources … that previous tellings have largely ignored. The result is a book … about what happens when institutions prioritize the preservation of their own power above all else.”
* Washington Independent Review of Books *“Riveting … an absorbing page-turner.”
* Psychology Today *Eric Caplan
Eric Caplan is author of Mind Games: American Culture and the Birth of Psychotherapy and recipient of the University of Chicago’s Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.
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