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This article examines the resurgence of “human” themes in contemporary psychiatry in the light of the notion of humanization of care, which emerged in postwar French psychiatry. Revisiting the emergence of efforts to humanize psychiatry allows us to establish historical, theoretical, and philosophical benchmarks. This affords insight into the contemporary revival of humanization as a potential guideline for psychiatric care, a revival associated with harsh criticism of the health care system. First, the article distinguishes between a humanist and a non-humanist version of the so-called humanization movement. Second, the article compares policies of humanization in general hospitals and psychiatric hospitals in the 1950s. It is clear that, by “humanizing,” the state meant reshaping the conditions under which the population could access (mental) health care on the basis of economic status. On the fringes of the official history, the memories of nurses, caregivers, and patients allow us to oppose two stories about humanization: the dominant story, told by the state, health authorities, and some physicians, about the modernization of psychiatry; and the subaltern story about “communization” of hospital resources through therapeutic experiments and therapeutic socialization. The article thus highlights the fact that the humanization of psychiatry is not just a moment in history. It is also a way to tell the history of psychiatry.