LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III. “Therapy.” Silvertone/RCA. ***: <i> Albums are rated on a scale of one (poor) to five (a classic) stars.</i>

If this is therapy, Freud better stock up on malpractice insurance. Actually, anyone familiar with Wainwright’s wacky history (this is the man who had a Top 10 hit in 1973 singing about a dead skunk) will know that in his sketches on mental health, it’s the “before” shot, not the “after,” that matters. More and more in recent years, Wainwright has been zeroing in on the nuclear family (usually after detonation), so there are plenty of lonely ex’s, single parents and distraught adult children all trying to cope--mostly hilariously, sometimes poignantly--with the traumas bequeathed them. Wainwright’s knack for the brilliant turn of phrase and winsome melody is sharper than ever, and there’s more of a country than folk feel to the music this time. Worried that it might be too dark or disturbing? Just lie down and go with that.