If you'll show me yours.

March 23, 2007 9:27 AM

Nude Marathon!Psychotherapy traveled down a lot of strange paths in the 60s and early 70s, but perhaps none stranger than the naked group therapy sessions, some up to 48 hours long, supervised by Paul Bindrim. Bindrim's sessions were the subject of a documentary film and an unflattering, thinly fictionalized novel by Gwen Davis Mitchell. Bindrim sued Mitchell for libel. Can descriptions of a fictional character be libelous of a real person? Yes.
posted by escabeche (13 comments total)

We want pictures.. to investigate this matter further of course.
posted by calhound at 9:30 AM on March 23, 2007

Stop. Back up. Replay: Time has archives from 1968 online?
posted by DU at 9:38 AM on March 23, 2007

They don't serve egg salad sandwiches at this marathon you speak of, do they?

To answer your question, I found this out when I was researching that Charles Harrelson post last night: why yes DU... they do.
posted by miss lynnster at 9:52 AM on March 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

pictures or it isn't true.
posted by Grod at 9:53 AM on March 23, 2007

Stop. Back up. Replay: Time has archives from 1968 online?

Oh farther. I was trying to find info on Fred Allen a few weeks ago and this came up from the March 31st, 1945 issue.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 9:57 AM on March 23, 2007

Is it just me or do we have nudity on the brain lately?

*strips, then presses post button*
posted by jonmc at 9:57 AM on March 23, 2007

Yeah, after a decade-plus with teasers only, TIME's entire archive is now online, ad-supported. It's a huge boon for Wikipedia sourcing, I'm happy to say (although it's frustrating when you have nothing to balance it with).

Um ... nude encounter sessions? I know, I was almost old enough for this stuff myself, but the 70s were weird, man.
posted by dhartung at 10:03 AM on March 23, 2007

Jesus. No wonder psychotherapy gets a bad (w)rap.
posted by OmieWise at 11:05 AM on March 23, 2007

There is fantastic fictional coverage of this in a movie that I love but several people have told me they abhor: "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice". I enjoy weird psychotherapy (for education and entertainment purposes only) and I enjoy group psychotherapy (for education and entertainment only) but since I ain't a boomer from '60's CA I have never had the opportunity to choose nude group psychotherapy.
posted by bukvich at 12:27 PM on March 23, 2007

Of course, that was many decades ago. In the modern world, patients don’t ask for nudity. We wouldn’t use it anyway, among other reasons, because it’s doubtful that our malpractice carriers would stand for it.

Isn't the modern world wonderful? Sigh.
posted by blacklite at 12:44 PM on March 23, 2007

Jesus. No wonder psychotherapy gets a bad (w)rap.

Omiewise, this isn't about psychotherapy.

This is about California.
posted by jason's_planet at 6:08 PM on March 23, 2007

When I first read the title, I must admit, I was picturing something far jigglier than just a bunch of naked folks sitting around talking about their feelings. Most disappionting.
posted by Wonderwoman at 7:47 PM on March 23, 2007

Sounds like a sauna (group gets naked and sits in a room complaining how women/men/work/life is shit), except there's probably no beer, and less heat.
posted by ikalliom at 1:41 AM on March 24, 2007