The Emmanuel Movement

"The Emmanuel Movement" was a name given by the contemporary press to a combined method of group and individual psychotherapy introduced in 1906 by the Rev. Elwood Worcester, Rector of the Emmanuel Church in Boston. This treatment method for the common neuroses, offered to the public free of charge and open to all social classes and religious denominations, was first welcomed with great popular acclaim but later ravaged by the widespread newspaper publicity it attracted. The movement continued its stormy existence for a decade beyond Worcester’s retirement in 1929. His successors applied his methods--including group treatment, the first to be employed in psychotherapy anywhere--to the treatment of alcoholics.

In The Emmanuel Movement, Sanford Gifford presents the definitive statement on this unique movement. He examines its position during a critical phase of American psychotherapy, and discusses the methods and personalities--both champions and detractors--associated with it.