Janov, Arthur

Arthur Janov (; August 21, 1924 – October 1, 2017), also known as Art Janov, was an American psychologist, psychotherapist, and writer. He gained notability as the creator of primal therapy, a treatment for mental illness that involves repeatedly descending into, feeling, and experiencing long-repressed childhood pain. Janov first directed a psychotherapy institute called the Primal Institute on North Almont Dr. in West Hollywood, California and from 1980 at the Janov Primal Center at 1205 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, in Venice, Los Angeles and latterly on Ashland Avenue in Santa Monica, California. Janov was the author of many books, most notably The Primal Scream (1970), as well as The Biology of Love and Life Before Birth: The Hidden Script That Rules our Lives.