David Smail's books work to a central theme - that psychological distress arises not from 'illness' or personal failure but as a response to damaging influences from the outside world. He believes that such distress can be alleviated by care and understanding from our fellows. He also examines how the dominant values of society and politics can have devastating effects on the individual, and consequently that counsellors and therapists can have limited success in treating such problems - that in fact it is the circumstances and not the individual, that need to be altered.