I couldn’t put this book down, and it was for all the wrong reasons. Scott Peck is/was a psychologist (not sure if he’s still alive as this book is older), and if you ever encounter a psychologist or therapist like him, please run for the hills. A friend recommended this book because I’m interested in books about the idea of evil, and I was not prepared for this book. The first two-thirds of this book is just stories of his patients and showing his bad practices and unethical behavior. To summarize his views, his patients are good people but toxic people in their lives are evil. No nuance. No empathy or compassion for the toxic people and what they may have gone through and the fact they probably need therapy to. Just a label that they’re evil. Not only that, he tries to convince his patients that these people are evil. Even when a patient acknowledges they need boundaries because they’re dealing with a sick person and must distance themselves, Peck pushes the idea on the patient that these people are just evil. Finally, in the last part of the book, it gets really good as the author's religious views come pouring out. In this section, he discusses “real” supernatural evil. I’m talking people being possessed by the devil and other demons. And the only thing that made this part more hilarious is that he ties in the controversial diagnosis of DID aka multiple personality disorder. I binged this book all the way through because it was pure insanity from start to finish. So, if you want a playbook on what not to do as a psychologist or therapist, this book is for you. And if you want to know what type of psychologists or therapists to avoid, grab a copy of this book. But to give it a little credit, there is a bit about people who are probably legit psychopaths, sociopaths or narcissists, but the book’s so short, it’s hard to get a solid read on the people he discusses.

Another great book recommendation from @glukianoff. I’m hooked