‘Primal Scream’ therapist Arthur Yanov dies at 93

Los Angeles (AP) — Arthur Janov, a psychotherapist whose “primal therapy” had celebrities screaming to release their childhood traumas and spawned a best-selling book in the 1970s, has died. He was 93.

Janov died Oct. 1 at his Malibu home from respiratory arrest following a stroke, said his wife, France Janov.

Janov, a clinical psychologist, became an international celebrity with his idea that adults repressed childhood traumas, making them neurotic and leading to problems such as mood disorders, drug addiction and even epilepsy.

He believed that what he termed “Primal Pain” could extend as far as birth.

“Coming close to death at birth or feeling unloved as a child are examples of such Pain,” he wrote.

“When the Pain is too much, it is repressed and stored away. When enough unresolved Pain has occurred, we lose access to your feelings and become neurotic,” he wrote. “The number one killer in the world today is not cancer or heart disease, it is repression.”

His therapy method involved having people relive their traumatic memories by “regressing” to infancy or childhood in order to confront and exorcise their demons. His Southern California center provided props such as cribs and stuffed animals. Patients, who might pay thousands of dollars, would scream or shout as their supposedly pent-up traumas were revealed.

His 1970 book “The Primal Scream,” made him an international celebrity.