"Primal Scream" therapist Arthur Yanov dies at 93

MALIBU, Calif. (AP) - Arthur Janov (YA'-nahv), 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.

His wife, France Janov, says Janov died Sunday at his home in Malibu following complications from a stroke.

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

His solution was to have people "regress" and relive their traumas. His 1970 book "The Primal Scream" was a hit and celebrity patients included John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

Today, mental health professionals widely reject primal therapy as unscientific and ineffectual. However, his widow says it's still practiced worldwide.

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