1 Wishing away history. Gilford, Peter; Cushman, Philip American Psychologist, Vol 56(9), Sep 2001, 765-766. Wishing Away History: A Response to Hoyt By Peter Gilford and Philip Cushman Abstract Responds to the comment by M. F. Hoyt (see record 2001-18061-014) on the article by P. Gilford and P. Cushman (see record 2000-05933-002). It is argued that Hoyt did not grasp the synchronistic connection between managed care's practices and its implications for current understandings of human being. The authors believe that either Hoyt did not fully understand their concerns or he is unable to apply them to his own theory. It is maintained that Hoyt's comments demonstrate how difficult it is for psychologists to think historically and critically about their practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all right Although Hoyt begins his comment with a lengthy quote from the conclusion of our article, it is puzzling that he does not then discuss it. We wonder if his silence about the quote and the overall direction of his comment indicates that either he does not fully understand our larger concerns, or he is not able to apply them to his own theory. The comment demonstrates how difficult it is for all of us to think historically and critically about psychological practices. As we concluded in our article (2000, p.994), managed care itself is not the sole problem. Rather, managed care’s understandings regarding the activity called psychotherapy, the behavior of therapists and patients, and those implied definitions of health and illness, are all reflections of the current sociocultural terrain. Understanding managed care from this perspective is of greater meaning to us then finding someone to blame, and we believe it should be of greater concern to the profession. The values and assumptions that have served to justify managed care practices can be found in most modern endeavors, including mainstream psychology. Our intention in writing the article