Andrew Salter (May 9,1914-October 6,1996) is the founder of conditioned reflex therapy, a type of therapy that emphasizes conscious physical action as the way to combat ingrained negative behaviours. In the 1940s, Salter introduced to American therapy the Pavlovian method of contradicting, opposing, and attacking beliefs.

Salter was the first nationally recognized opponent of psychoanalysis. He was a dedicated and accurate critic of Freud.

Salter proclaimed in this post-war tome, "psychoanalysis has outlived its usefulness." Salter chucked psychoanalysis and replaced it with Pavlovian conditioning under hypnosis. In the conditioned reflex, he has seen the essence of hypnosis. He gave a rebirth to hypnotism by combining it with classical conditioning.

In the original Frank Sinatra film The Manchurian Candidate the Chinese cite Salter's work as their inspiration to brainwash the soldiers.

American psychologists | 1914 births | 1996 deaths | American non-fiction writers