Until very recently (mid 90's) many psychological phenomena were explained by childhood experiences, in line with Freud's psychoanalytical theory. Many of these have since been disproved. One criteria I have for trustworthiness of a scientific discipline is that of stability. If the previous theory has been found to be very wrong, very recently, then I am cautious to trust again.
Specifically note that his theory, although debunked, still lives on in philosophy and literature analysis. This "stickiness", that people refuse to give up the theory when proven wrong is additionally a bad sign.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoanalytic_theory#Critics_o...
Specifically note that his theory, although debunked, still lives on in philosophy and literature analysis. This "stickiness", that people refuse to give up the theory when proven wrong is additionally a bad sign.
Recovered memory therapy is a recent failure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recovered-memory_therapy