Psychobabble (a portmanteau of "psychology" or "psychoanalysis" and "babble") is a term for language that uses psychological jargon, buzzwords and esoteric language in a manner that may lack accuracy, genuine meaning, or relevance.
Origin of the term
Psychobabble was defined by the writer who coined the word, R.D. Rosen,23 as
a set of repetitive verbal formalities that kills off the very spontaneity, candour, and understanding it pretends to promote. It’s an idiom that reduces psychological insight to a collection of standardized observations that provides a frozen lexicon to deal with an infinite variety of problems.4
The word itself came into popular use after his 1977 publication of Psychobabble: Fast Talk and Quick Cure in the Era of Feeling.5
Rosen coined the word in 1975 in a book review for The Boston Phoenix, then featured it in a cover story for the magazine New Times titled "Psychobabble: The New Language of Candor."6 His book Psychobabble explores the dramatic expansion of psychological treatments and terminology in both professional and non-professional settings.
Likely contexts
Certain terms considered to be psychological jargon may be dismissed as psychobabble when they are used by laypersons or in discussions of popular psychology themes. New Age philosophies, self-help groups, personal development coaching, and large-group awareness training are often said to employ psychobabble.
The word "psychobabble" may refer contemptuously to pretentious psychological gibberish. Automated talk-therapy offered by various ELIZA computer programs produce notable examples of conversational patterns that are psychobabble, even though they may not be loaded with jargon. ELIZA programs parody clinical conversations in which a therapist replies to a statement with a question that requires little or no specific knowledge.
"Neurobabble" is a related term. Beyerstein (1990)7 wrote that neurobabble can appear in "ads [that] suggest that brain 'repatterning' will foster effortless learning, creativity, and prosperity." He associated neuromythologies of left/right brain pseudoscience with specific New Age products and techniques. He stated that "the purveyors of neurobabble urge us to equate truth with what feels right and to abandon the commonsense insistence that those who would enlighten us provide at least as much evidence as we demand of politicians or used-car salesmen."
Examples
Psychobabble terms are typically words or phrases which have their roots in psychotherapeutic practice. Psychobabblers commonly overuse such terms as if they possessed some special value or meaning.
Rosen has suggested that the following terms often appear in psychobabble: co-dependent, delusion, denial, dysfunctional, empowerment, holistic, meaningful relationship, multiple personality disorder, narcissism, psychosis, self-actualization, synergy, and mindfulness. Extensive examples of psychobabble appear in Cyra McFadden's satirical novel The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County (1977).8 In his collection of critical essays, Working with Structuralism (1981), the British scholar and novelist David Lodge gives a structural analysis of the language used in the novel and notes that McFadden endorsed the use of the term.9
In 2010, Theodore Dalrymple defined psychobabble as "the means by which people talk about themselves without revealing anything."10
See also
- Psychology portal
- Christianese – Christian religious terminology and jargon
- Corporatese – Buzzwords and specialized vocabulary used by businesspeoplePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
- Legalese – Pleading in civil and criminal lawPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
- Technobabble – Jargon-sounding nonsense
- Platitude – Trite, prosaic, or cliché truism
- Euphemism – Innocuous word or expression used in place of one that may be found offensive
- Glittering generality – Phrase which appeals to positive emotion without supporting reason
References
"Definition of 'psychobabble'". Collins Dictionary. Retrieved 1 June 2025. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/psychobabble ↩
"Psychobabble - Richard Dean Rosen". Retrieved 16 June 2015. http://rdrosen.com/psychobabble-fast-talk-and-quick-cure-in-the-era-of-feelings/ ↩
"Psychobabble dictionary definition - psychobabble defined". Retrieved 16 June 2015. http://www.yourdictionary.com/psychobabble ↩
Andrews, Robert (1993). The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations. Columbia University Press. p. 480. ISBN 9780231071949. Retrieved 16 June 2015. a set of repetitive verbal formalities that kills off the very spontaneity. 9780231071949 ↩
Rosen, R.D. (1977). Psychobabble: Fast Talk and Quick Cure in the Era of Feeling (1st ed.). New York: Atheneum. ISBN 978-0-689-10775-7. 978-0-689-10775-7 ↩
Compare: Hallenstein, Craig B. (February 1978). "Ethical problems of psychological jargon" (PDF). Professional Psychology. 9 (1). American Psychological Association: 111–116. ISSN 0735-7028. Retrieved 2010-01-31. RD Rosen (1975) pointed to the tyranny of 'psychological patter' in his article 'Psychobabble: The New Jargon of Candor.' http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/pro/9/1/111.pdf ↩
Beyerstein, B.L. (1990). "Unvalidated Fringe and Fraudulent Treatment of Mental Disorders". International Journal of Mental Health. 19 (3): 27–36. doi:10.1080/00207411.1990.11449169. /wiki/Doi_(identifier) ↩
McFadden, Cyra (2000). The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County. Prion Books. ISBN 978-1-85375-383-1. 978-1-85375-383-1 ↩
Lodge, David (1981). Working with Structuralism: Essays and Reviews on Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Literature. Boston: Routledge & K. ISBN 978-0-7100-0658-5. 978-0-7100-0658-5 ↩
Dalrymple, Theodore (2010). Spoilt Rotten: The Toxic Cult of Sentimentality. Gibson Square Books Ltd. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-906142-61-2. 978-1-906142-61-2 ↩