Strategic self-marginalization: the case of psychoanalysis

Marginality is an important concept in the history of science, though it is often used in a manner that presumes marginality to be a static designation. We contend that the dynamics of marginality are crucial to the history of psychoanalysis, a discipline that has moved between dominant and marginal positions. We address psychoanalytic marginality via three specific "cases": the marginalization among Freud and his followers when psychoanalysis was an emergent discipline; the marginality trope in Erich Fromm's popular psychoanalytic writing when psychoanalysis was orthodoxy in American academic psychiatry; and the rhetorical marginality of psychoanalysis in Sweden as psychoanalysis entered a decline within psychiatry. Our aim is to show that marginalization and self-marginalization serve interpersonal, social, and professional strategies.     

John Watson's paradoxical struggle to explain Freud

John Watson was fascinated by the discoveries of psychoanalysis, but he rejected Freud's central concept of the unconscious as incompatible with behaviorism. After failing to explain psychoanalysis in terms of William James's concept of habit, Watson borrowed concepts from classical conditioning to explain Freud's discoveries. Watson's famous experiment with Little Albert is interpreted not only in the context of Pavlovian conditioning but also as a psychoanalytically inspired attempt to capture simplified analogues of adult phobic behavior, including the "transference" of emotion in an infant. Watson used his behavioristic concept of conditioned emotional responses to compete with Freud's concepts of displacement and the unconscious transference of emotion. Behind a mask of anti-Freudian bias, Watson surprisingly emerges as a psychologist who popularized Freud and pioneered the scientific appraisal of his ideas in the laboratory.     

On the psychoanalytic treatment of a psychotic breakdown

The author discusses the four-session-a-week psychoanalysis of a patient in psychotic breakdown with outbursts of violence. The analyst's first appearance in the transference was as a "rattle" (the noise made by his shifting in his chair), which constituted undeniable evidence of corporality--first the analyst's and then the patient's--leading eventually to the awareness of there being two separate persons in the psychoanalytic relationship. This case highlights the analyst's need to function in a particular way, and to allow him- or herself to be used in a particular way, in working with very disturbed patients, where issues of the body-mind relationship and of separation from the other are often central to the analytic work.     

PSYCHOLOGY AND LITERATURE: THE QUESTION OF READING OTHERWISE

By making literature the partner of a dialogue with psychology, with the aim of better understanding the psyche, psychoanalysis has truly altered our way of understanding the literary phenomenon. Thus, Freud resorted to literature in an attempt to validate his theories. At the same time, though, in striving for "natural" scientific status, he shifted the emphasis away from any possible deep comprehension of the literature. However, psychoanalysis, trying to delve deeper into literature, has elaborated a whole theory regarding the literary meaning that is still prevalent today. In this paper, the author examines the Freudian conception of literature that points beyond the intrapsychic and moves towards intersubjectivity.     

Why Didn’t Freud Reject Pfister? A Response to Isabelle Noth and Christoph Morgenthaler

The Freud-Pfister correspondence is in some sense an Urtext for the most friendly debate imaginable between the self-identified “godless Jew” who founded psychoanalysis, and the liberal Swiss pastor who was drawn to psychoanalysis while retaining his belief in God. Why didn’t Freud reject Pfister? This article will probe this question using the tools of psychoanalysis itself. After reviewing Freud’s associations to childhood religion, the Bible, and his father (citing Rizzuto), I am proposing that Pfister functioned unconsciously for Freud not only as an admiring son and disciple, but also a father substitute—much like Freud’s beloved antiquities—who represented both a God and a father who would admire and love him, and carry Freud’s name forward in the Book of Life.     

“The indestructible,the barbaric principle”: The Role of Schelling in Merleau-Ponty’s Psychoanalysis

The aim of this paper is to examine Merleau-Ponty’s idea of a “psychoanalysis of Nature” (Merleau-Ponty in The visible and the invisible. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, 1968). My thesis is that in order to understand the creation of a Merleau-Pontean psychoanalysis (together with the role the unconscious plays in this psychoanalysis), we need to ultimately understand the place of Schelling in Merleau-Ponty’s late thought. Through his dialogue with Schelling, Merleau-Ponty will be able to formulate not only a psychoanalysis of Nature, but also fulfil the ultimate task of phenomenology itself; namely, of identifying “what resists phenomenology—natural being, the ‘barbarous’ source Schelling spoke of” and situating it precisely at the heart of phenomenology (Merleau-Ponty in Signs. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, p 178, 1964b). The plan for studying this natural psychoanalysis is threefold. First, I provide an overview of the role psychoanalysis plays in the 1951 lecture, “Man and Adversity,” focusing especially on this lecture as a turning point in his thinking. Second, I chart how Merleau-Ponty’s psychoanalysis is informed by the various ways in which the unconscious is formulated in his thought, leading eventually to a dialogue with Schelling. Accordingly, in the final part of the paper, I trace the role of Schelling’s thought in the creation of a Merleau-Pontean psychoanalysis. As I argue, what distinguishes this psychoanalysis is the centrality of Schelling’s idea of the “barbaric principle,” which manifests itself as the notion of an unconscious indexing an “excess of Being” resistant to classical phenomenology (Merleau-Ponty in Nature: course notes from the college de France. Northwestern University Press, Evanston, p 38, 2003).     

The older patient in psychoanalysis

The demographic shift toward extended longevity has led to a commensurate increase in the length of the working and productive years, and with it an increase in the number of so-called "older" patients who come into psychoanalysis or psychoanalytic psychotherapy. This led the Psychoanalytic Research and Development Fund to support a four-year study by a small group of experienced psychoanalysts of "the older patient in psychoanalysis." Aging and old age are considered to be the final developmental crisis of the successive epigenetic phases of the life cycle. Eleven case presentations and various briefer clinical vignettes informed us that older and even old individuals, who seek treatment themselves or who are appropriately referred, respond in a positive and effective fashion to psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. As do younger patients in analysis, such older people, motivated by the wish to make the most of what time is left, become interested in understanding their pasts with respect to the present and the future. The life stories of two older men who undertook analysis, and the courses and outcomes of their analyses, illustrate our findings and impressions. In both cases conflicts and difficulties from earlier developmental phases, extending back even as far as the oedipal and preoedipal years, were revived during their older years. And although these conflicts might have been beyond definitive resolution, what is salient is the extent to which they were ameliorated: sufficiently that they did not impede a satisfactory adaptive solution of the final crisis of the normative sequences of the life cycle.     

Marie Bonaparte,her first two patients and the literary world

Marie Bonaparte (1882–1962) played a critical role in the development of psychoanalysis in France. Her clinical activity is not well known yet she was one of the first female French psychoanalysts. The journalist–writers Alice and Valerio Jahier were Bonaparte’s first two patients. She conducted this dual analysis with Rudolph Loewenstein (1898–1976). Alice and Valerio exchanged analysts on several occasions. During his analysis, Valerio began corresponding with Italo Svevo (1861–1928), the author of La Coscienza di Zeno, who imparted his doubts on the therapeutic merits of psychoanalysis. Valerio described his difficult analysis in his letters to Svevo. Bonaparte consulted Freud on the subject, but was not able to prevent Valerio’s suicide in 1939. The Princess of Greece encouraged Alice in her vocation as a writer and enabled her to benefit from her connections in literary circles. On the margins of this unpublished story of the two analyses, which is based on archived documents recently made available, we discover the importance of the links which were formed – around Marie Bonaparte – between psychoanalysis and literature. In addition to Italo Svevo, we come across the acerbic writer, Maurice Sachs, as well as the famous novelist, Stefan Zweig.     

Little Hans: a centennial review and reconsideration

Freud's "Analysis of a Phobia in a Five-year-old Boy" has stimulated interminable "reanalysis." The case of Little Hans, an unprecedented experimental child analytic treatment, is reexamined in the light of newer theory and newly derestricted documents. The understanding of the complex overdetermination of Hans's phobia was not possible in the heroic age of psychoanalysis. Current analytic thought, as well as distance de-idealization vis-à-vis the pioneering past, has potentiated a reformation of the case. The severe disturbance of his mother had an adverse impact on Little Hans and his family. Her abuse of Hans's infant sister has been overlooked by generations of analysts. Trauma, child abuse, parental strife, and the preoedipal mother-child relationship emerge as important issues that intensified Hans's pathogenic oedipal conflicts and trauma. With limited, yet remarkable help from his father and Freud, Little Hans nevertheless had the ego strength and resilience to resolve his phobia, resume progressive development, and forge a successful creative career.     

A perfectly staged 'concerted action' against psychoanalysis

An eyewitness account provides evidence of a significant clandestine effort to neutralize the legitimacy and authority of psychoanalysis. In a letter, the witness confirms the existence of a perfectly staged concerted action among German psychiatrists against Freud's influence in 1913. Their congress in Breslau was meant to present the united front of German psychiatrists, who were going on record as being against psychoanalysis and, in that context, to give Eugen Bleuler, a leading psychiatrist, whose (however half-hearted) support for psychoanalysis had alarmed his colleagues, a public opportunity for back-pedalling. The letter shows that Freud and his allies were not the only ones who tried to manage an intellectual movement by using informal networks and 'behind the scenes' manoeuvring.     

In the margins of scientific dialogue: Evart Van Dieren contra psychoanalysis

Evart Van Dieren (1861-1940), a Dutch general practitioner who had a passionate aversion against psychoanalysis, wrote two particularly polemical books contra Freud but nevertheless did not succeed in generating much response. In this paper, some of his objections against psychoanalysis are briefly examined and compared with some present day arguments against Freud by Grünbaum and Crews, with the purpose of finding an answer to the question: What does it take to be a successful or unsuccessful critic?     

The dual impact of Freud's death and Freud's death instinct theory on the history of psychoanalysis

Since I have ranged over a rather large territory in this presentation I will summarize my main points. I claim that the very way Freud created psychoanalysis made it impossible for it to continue to grow and develop as a unified movement after his death. Unlike other sciences, psychoanalysis had no way of differentiating its basic findings from what is yet to be discovered. I then reintroduced my differentiation between heretics, modifiers, and extenders, claiming that after Freud’s death there was less opportunity for heretics and more space for modifiers. I assigned a crucial role to the fact that Anna Freud did not succeed in expelling the Kleinians. In the second part of the paper I presented the view of those who made use of Freud’s death instinct theory and those who opposed it. Many analysts preferred to ignore dealing with it rather than state their opposition. My presentation was biased in favor of those who chose to work with the death instinct as a clinical reality,highlighting Ferenczi’s construction. I made the claim, so far as I know never made before, that Freud’s death instinct theory had a traumatic impact on the psychoanalytic movement because it greatly limited the belief in the curative power of our therapeutic work. After his announcement of the dual-instinct theory Freud withdrew his interest in psychoanalysis as a method of cure. By doing so he inflicted a narcissistic wound on psychoanalysis. I believe that the creativity of psychoanalysis will improve if we face this difficult chapter in our history.     

Ferenczi's Rise and Fall from “Analytic Grace”: The Ferenczi Renaissance Revisited

In the last 20 years a Ferenczi Renaissance has been slowly building. There has been a rediscovery of the significance of Sándor Ferenczi, who can be considered the clinical genius of psychoanalysis. The politics of psychoanalysis led to the suppression of Ferenczi's ideas, removing his influence from psychoanalysis for about 50 years. Ferenczi's ideas and methods significantly deviated from his mentor, Sigmund Freud; he offered an alternative theory, The Confusion of Tongues and a new method, Relaxation Therapy. Ferenczi's pioneering contributions to analytic therapy include: the introduction of empathy into the analytic relationship; the curative function of the relationship in the analytic encounter; the role of activity in analytic therapy; the importance of non-interpretative behavior by the analyst; the function of the experiential and emotional dimensions in analytic therapy; analyst self-disclosure; and mutual analysis.     

Inventing Freud

Written to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Freud's birth, this paper construes Nina Coltart's statement that "if Freud did not exist it would be necessary to invent him," with its implicit comparison of Freud to God, to refer to (a) the things that Freud taught that are incontrovertibly true; (b) the unavoidable subjectivity in all judgments of Freud; and (c) the resemblances between psychoanalysis and religion. This last comparison is likewise seen to have both positive and negative aspects. Freud's ideas have inspired many people, yet he unscientifically arrogated sovereign authority over psychoanalysis. Freud's admirers are reminded of his extreme difficulty in admitting he was wrong and changing his mind when he should have known better, while his detractors are encouraged to consider the evidence supporting many of Freud's core tenets and to recognize that his discovery of psychoanalysis is indeed one of the supreme achievements in human history.     

Call of the Wild

Freud described "wild analysis" as an undisciplined version of psychoanalysis; but the new Penguin series of Freud's writings collects many of his papers under the title Wild Analysis, challenging the differentiation. This paper traces wild elements at the core of psychoanalytic thought, crediting Groddeck, Ferenczi, and Winnicott for bringing them to the open. The image of the wild analyst can serve us as the image of the deeply involved, personally motivated analyst, whose work is intense and emotionally risky. This is the opposite of the "civilized" analyst who uses well-defined existing paths, takes no personal risks, and therefore stays at an emotional distance from his/her patients. Every analyst's capacity to develop a unique analytic self, based on his/her genuine life experience and worldview, is endangered if stepping out of line is slandered as "wild analysis" or as insanity. The relevance of these issues for contemporary psychoanalytic thought and education is demonstrated.     

Sublimation and Symbolization: The Case of Dental Anxiety and the Symbolic Meaning of Teeth

In a previous article (Capps and Carlin 2009) we discussed Freud’s visit to the United States in 1909 and the occasion it afforded for James Putnam to meet him and become an advocate of psychoanalysis. We focused on their subsequent correspondence on the concept of sublimation and argued that this correspondence reflected the fact that friendship may be a form of sublimation. In this article we focus on Isador H. Coriat, an advocate of psychoanalysis from the same time period (1910s). We show that his early psychoanalytic writings (Coriat 1917, 1920) not only support our earlier argument but also make a strong case for the role of symbolization in the process of sublimation. We also note his emphasis on the potential role of living religion in the sublimation process. We then discuss his later article on dental anxiety (Coriat 1946) and writings by other psychoanalytic authors to make the case that the patient’s conscious understanding of the meaning of the symbols—in this case, teeth-related symbols—is essential, for otherwise the energies invested in maintaining the repression will be unavailable to the sublimation process. This leads to a consideration of the role that living religion may play in the sublimation of teeth-related anxieties. We conclude that humor may also serve as a proxy for religion in this regard.     

A training analysis for psychoanalytic psychotherapists

For historical reasons, psychoanalytic psychotherapy has been regarded as a second-class treatment in comparison with psychoanalysis, and standards for training in it have lagged behind those for psychoanalysis. However, psychoanalytic psychotherapy is the treatment of choice for many healthier (or higher-level) patients who cannot receive analysis for any reason, and also for a large population of more-disturbed patients who are not appropriate for psychoanalysis. Mastering techniques of psychoanalytic psychotherapy may be as difficult as mastering those of psychoanalysis, and should require comparable theoretical training, supervision, and personal treatment. This "development lag" in the training of psychoanalytic psychotherapists has taken place for several reasons: (1) Psychoanalytic ideas first emerged in America in the context of a new movement toward an electric, but dynamic psychiatry from which psychoanalysis had to establish its separate identity. (2) Psychotherapy was associated with techniques of suggestion and manipulation from which psychoanalysis wished to separate. (3) Because psychotherapy was seen as an inferior form of therapy which required little training, institutes were slow in being established, and reluctant to require a "training analysis." It is suggested that with the full training of psychoanalytic psychotherapists, this discipline may be regarded as a profession comparable to psychoanalysis. It is further suggested that the optimal treatment for the full training of the psychoanalytic psychotherapist is psychoanalysis, and that a "training psychotherapy" is not an adequate substitute, but may provide a transitional step to resolve initial resistances and to prepare the therapist for a training analysis.     

OHTSUKI KENJI AND THE BEGINNINGS OF LAY ANALYSIS IN JAPAN

The authors outline the major role played by Ohtsuki Kenji in the formation of the Japanese Psychoanalytic Society. Unlike the other pioneers of psychoanalysis in Japan, Ohtsuki never went abroad or met Freud. He was a literature graduate who taught himself the fundamentals of psychoanalysis. He organised the translation of Freud's complete works, formed a psychoanalytic training institute and started a journal that carried English-language editorials. These became the major means whereby foreign analysts came to know and understand the Japanese psychoanalytic scene. A number of rival groups amalgamated to form the Japanese Psychoanalytical Association in the mid-fifties, excluding Ohtsuki's group despite its pre-war prominence. The authors reconsider Ohtsuki's role in the light of his many articles, his autobiography, new information uncovered in interviews conducted with current analysts and with Ohtsuki's widow and son. They describe his championing of lay analysis, and his criticisms of medicalisation of the discipline and of the view from abroad that questioned the suitability of Japanese culture for psychoanalytic therapy, as well as his efforts to modify some of the basic tenets of psychoanalysis to accord with his own views in his later work.     

Converting a Freudian analysis into a Jungian one: obsession,addiction, and an answer from Job

In his analyses of obsessional patients, Sigmund Freud suggested that they suffered from intrusive cognitions and compulsive activities. Early psychoanalysts delineated the phenomenology of obsessionality, but did not differentiate what is currently termed obsessive‐compulsive disorder from obsessional personality. However, it was widely recognized that the success of psychoanalysis with obsessional patients was limited due to rigid characterological defences and transference resistances. The present paper examines the case of a middle‐aged obsessional academic who had been treated for nearly twenty years in a ‘classical' Freudian psychoanalysis prior to entering Jungian analysis. It examines how persistent focus on Oedipal conflicts undesirably reinforced the transference resistance in this obsessional man, and suggests that focusing instead on diminishing the harshness of the super‐ego via the therapeutic alliance, and fostering faith in the salutary aspects of unconscious processing has led to salutary results in this case. The biblical book of Job is adopted as ancient instruction in how to address the scrupulosity and addictive mental structuring of obsessionality in analysis.     

GEORG GRODDECK: “THE PINCH OF PEPPER” OF PSYCHOANALYSIS

The life and works of Georg Groddeck are reviewed and placed in historical context as a physician and a pioneer of psychoanalysis, psychosomatic medicine, and an epistolary style of writing. His Das Es concept stimulated Freud to construct his tripartite model of the mind. Groddeck, however, used Das Es to facilitate receptivity to unconscious communication with his patients. His “maternal turn” transformed his treatment approach from an authoritarian position to a dialectical process. Groddeck was a generative influence on the development of Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, Erich Fromm, and Karen Horney. He was also the mid-wife of the late-life burst of creativity of his friend and patient Sándor Ferenczi. Together, Groddeck and Ferenczi provided the impetus for a paradigm shift in psychoanalysis that emphasized the maternal transference, child-like creativity, and a dialogue of the unconscious that foreshadowed contemporary interest in intersubjectivity and field theory. They were progenitors of the relational turn and tradition in psychoanalysis. Growing interest in interpsychic communication and field theory is bringing about a convergence of theorizing among pluralistic psychoanalytic schools that date back to 1923 when Freud appropriated Groddeck’s Das Es and radically altered its meaning and use.