Here Bartholomew critiqued contemporary psychology's advocacy for cathartic venting of anger and negativity, arguing that such practices often entrench rather than heal suffering. True removal of negativity requires awareness of one's misery, radical acceptance of responsibility, and complete cessation of negative thought patterns - not their expression.

Context: Speaking on November 21, 1978, Bartholomew was responding to a question grounded in modern psychology: the belief that expressing negative feelings through catharsis helps overcome them. He acknowledged partial truth in this approach while exposing its fundamental limitations and dangers, particularly as it operates in therapeutic contexts.

Awareness as Prerequisite: Bartholomew began with a paradox: until people become acutely aware of how trapped and miserable they are in their negative, ego-driven thought patterns, they won't truly desire to throw off that conditioning. Simply telling someone "You're miserable but I can offer you joy," will not move them if they haven't yet recognized their own misery. So the therapeutic movement toward greater awareness has value - people need to see their suffering before they can genuinely seek freedom from it.

The Problem: Therapy as Endless Game: However, Bartholomew identified the fatal flaw: once this awareness begins, most therapeutic approaches become a game unto themselves, continuing week after week, month after month, year after year, with no genuine resolution. The patient never reaches the root of the problem; instead, they become caught in the therapeutic ritual itself. This is particularly dangerous for the therapist, who develops an identity and entire life structure around the existence of illness and suffering. The therapist becomes like a medical doctor who believes in illness - his whole livelihood depends on sickness continuing. He is unlikely to help patients achieve complete freedom because his own game plan depends on their continued dysfunction.

Partial Truth Masquerading as Completion: Bartholomew observed that what happens in therapy is a "half measure." People tap into a truth - that acknowledging negative patterns is necessary - but they stop midway because stopping midway allows the ego game to continue. Going all the way to the root would "stop the game totally," and most people involved in therapy are not interested in that. They prefer the comfort of the familiar pattern.

Venting as Harm, Not Healing: Bartholomew made a categorical statement: "It has never helped anyone to vent anger, hatred and rage at another person." In therapy groups, people identify their ugly feelings - usually toward those they should feel gratitude for, particularly parents - and then "give vent to all of this garbage" accumulated over years because their ego has been wounded or thwarted. But what they fail to understand is that they stand "totally responsible for the entire drama." By venting rage, they are putting extremely hateful, negative, destructive thoughts out into the world. These thoughts return to them; they don't understand this karmic return. Therapy, as often practiced, is not healing. It is psychic pollution.

The Stalled Resolution: It is true that in some cases, people eventually tire of venting and drop the pattern, saying, "This is boring; it isn't getting me anywhere." To that extent, they do release one line of negative charge. But the damage has already been done through the explosive expression of hatred. And they think therapy is complete, when it is only beginning. In reality, therapy as commonly practiced is "a new, immature science" with considerable venom operating within it.

True Removal of Negativity: The genuine path is radical and total: one must become aware of the desperate, negative, hopeless, spiraling thrust of one's mental makeup and then resolve to become free of it entirely. This is not accomplished by expressing the negativity but by ceasing to entertain negative thoughts at all. One takes total responsibility for the entire drama instead of blaming others. This move cuts off the ego game at its root.

The Inversion Principle: Bartholomew emphasized that the teaching is being inverted in modern therapy. Instead of understanding that "I alone create my reality through my thoughts," people use therapy to buttress the opposite belief: "Others have done this to me, and I need to express my rage to them." This inverted understanding keeps people trapped. True healing requires recognizing that you are not a victim of others but the creator of your own experience through your thought choices.

Complete Cessation vs. Catharsis: The real work is not expression but cessation. One must stop generating negative thoughts about parents, about others, about life. This is radically different from giving vent to those thoughts. The ego resists this because the ego is invested in maintaining the drama. Most practitioners and patients alike are unwilling to undertake this ultimate challenge because it would truly end the game - and then there would be no therapist and no therapy and no patient identity to maintain.