Jung's analysis of Sabina Spielrein and his use of Freud's free association method

This paper examines Jung's use of Freud's free association method and his own association experiments in his analysis of Sabina Spielrein in 1904-1905. Jung's gradual rejection of the Freudian free association method is noted. By the time of their split in 1913, Jung came to view Freud's method of using associations to analyse personal complexes as reductive, limiting and backward-looking. He also felt that the Freudian method threatened the analysand by creating confusion and a regressive dependency on the analyst. Jung's early approach inclined away from personal pain in favour of analysing autonomous, impersonal and collective phenomena. The historical question is raised whether Jung's rejection of the use of the free associations of the individual analysand might be as fundamental as their well-known disagreement about Freud's belief in the central role of sexuality in neurosis.     

Book reviews

Books reviewed:
Kirsch, Thomas B., The Jungians: A Comparative and Historical Perspective
Perera, Sylvia Brinton, Queen Maeve and Her Lovers.
Fonagy, Peter; Cooper, Arnold, Wallerstein, M. & Robert, S., (eds.) Psychoanalysis on the Move. The work of Joseph Sandler
Green, Andre, The Fabric of Affect in the Psychoanalytic Discourse,
Johnson, S. & Ruszcynski, S., (eds.) Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in the Independent Tradition
Vaidyanathan, T. G. & Kripal, J. J., (eds.) Vishnu on Freud's Desk – A Reader in Psychoanalysis and Hinduism.     

Sabina Spielrein: psychoanalytic studies

The unconscious fantasies in Kuprin's Duel , p.201
Animal symbolism and a boy's phobia, p.202
The mother-in-law, p.205     

Books received

Analytical Psychology Schoenl, William. C. G. Jung: His Friendship with Mary Mellon and J. B. Priestley. Psychoanalysis Murdin, Lesley. How Much is Enough? Endings in Psychotherapy and Counselling. Bell, David (ed.). Psychoanalysis and Culture. A Kleinian Perspective. Psychology Butler, Gillian & Mcmanus, Freda. Psychology. A Very Short Introduction. Miscellaneous Al-issa, Ihsan (ed.). Al-Junun: Mental Illness in the Islamic World. Edelson, Marshall & Berg, David N. Rediscovering Groups. A Psychoanalyst's Journey Beyond Individual Psychology. Ettin, Mark. Foundations and Approaches of Group Psychotherapy. A Sphere of Influence. Von Franz, Marie-Louise. The Problem of the Puer Aeternus. Hamilton, Ian Stuart. Key Ideas in Psychology. Hannah, Barbara. The Inner Journey. Lectures and Essays on Jungian Psychology. Laplanche, Jean. Essays on Otherness.The Rider Encyclopaedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion. Schapira, Sylvie K. Choosing a Counselling or Psychotherapy Training. A Practical Guide. Ulanov, Ann Bedford. Religion and the Spiritual in Carl Jung.     

The story of an ambivalent relationship: Sigmund Freud and Eugen Bleuler

This paper examines the short-lived flirtation between psychoanalysis and academia and psychiatry in Europe and the reasons for, and consequences of, the fact that their paths diverged. It is argued that Bleuler's break with the psychoanalytic movement is a crucial and, until now, largely underestimated turning point. Bleuler's separation from the psychoanalytic movement was probably more important for the course it has since taken than those of Adler, Stekel, or even Jung. Bleuler's analysis by correspondence by Freud, and its failure, was of paramount importance for the future relationship between Freud and Bleuler, and for Bleuler's assessment of psychoanalysis.     

Ferenczi and Jung: some parallel lines?1

In the complexity of the entangled interactions within the group of psychoanalytical pionneers, their divergent interests and views, the Ferenczi-Jung relationship is of particular interest given the importance that both had in the field of the history of ideas. It is striking to discover some parallel lines, but interpersonal, institutional and socio-cultural factors contributed to the fact that this peaceful and complementary collaboration was not possible in the long run. Perhaps for the present generation, in retrospective, it is easier to notice seminal strokes and also some deficiencies in all these thinkers.     

Books received

Analytical Psychology
Thomas Singer, (ed) The Vision Thing: Myth, Politics and Psyche in the World
Erel Shalit, The Hero and his Shadow. Psychopolitical aspects of Myth and Reality in Israel
J. Hollis, The Archetypal Imagination
Psychoanalysis
A. Ferro, The Bi-Personal Field – Experiences in Child Analysis
M. Parsons, The Dove that Returns, The Dove that Vanishes–Paradox and Creativity in Psychoanalysis
Miscellaneous
J. W. Ciarocchi, & R. J. Wicks, Psychotherapy with Priests and Protestant Clergy and Catholic Religious: A Practical Guide
Chopra Deepak, How to Know God. The Soul's Journey into the Mystery of Mysteries
Rachel Charles, Your Mind's Eye. How to heal yourself and release your potential through creative visualisation
Joyce Rockwood Hudson, Natural Spirituality. Recovering the Wisdom Tradition in Christianity
Zerka T. Moreno, Leif Dag Blomkvist, & Thomas Rützel, Psychodrama, Surplus Reality and the Art of Healing
Ann Ulanov, & Barry The Healing Imagination. The Meeting of Psyche and Soul     

Idiodynamics and Applied Psychoanalysis

This communication explores the implications of Rosenzweig's idiodynamic method for applied psychoanalytic studies. After reviewing the methodological problems intrinsic to applied psychoanalysis, the author summarizes the idiodynamic method. Rosenzweig's idiodynamic studies of loss and creativity in Freud's life (and the lives of creative individuals) are briefly reviewed. With Rosenzweig's insights in mind, Freud's methodological problem in Totem and Taboo is identified and explored in terms of its psychological meaning. Freud's split with Jung was an important factor in the composition of Totem and Taboo. The Freud–Jung split also influenced the insular nature of organized psychoanalysis and contributed to the relative neglect of empirical methods within psychoanalysis in the twentieth century. The idiodynamic method is intended to foster empirical rigor. For applied psychoanalytic studies, the idiodynamic method would place actual known events, with consequent patterns and meanings emerging over time, above any theoretical scheme. Although his method does not resolve all of the methodological problems of applied psychoanalysis, Rosenzweig offers a disciplined method for creative psychological inquiry.     

Freud–Ferenczi correspondence,revisited

Abstract

The article gives an overview of what Freud and Ferenczi had to say in their correspondence about their own relationship, and how they dealt with problems that arose between them. It includes a list of short selected quotes from the correspondence.     

Books received

Aron, Elaine N. The Highly Sensitive Person. How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You. David L. Smith. Approaching Psychoanalysis. An Introductory Course. Gabriella Ripa di Meana. Figures of Lightness. Anorexia, Bulimia and Psychoanalysis. Strasser, Freddie. Emotions. Experiences in Existential Psychotherapy and Life. Althusser, Louis. Writings on Psychoanalysis: Freud and Lacan. Corneau, Guy. Lessons in Love. The Transformation of Spirit through Intimacy. Moody, Harry R. & Carroll, David. The Five Stages of the Soul. For Everyone who has ever asked, ‘Is this it?’. Peterson, Jordan. B. Maps of Meaning. The Architecture of Belief.     

Books received

Analytical Psychology
Guggenbühl, Allan., The Incredible Fascination of Violence: Dealing with Aggression and Brutality Among Children.
Bradway, Kay & McCoard, Barbara., Sandplay – Silent Workshop of the Psyche.
Psychoanalysis
Segal, Hanna., Psychoanalysis, Literature and War.
Psychotherapy
White, Andy., Going Mad to Stay Sane – The Psychology of Self-Destructive Behaviour.
Reeve, Gillian & Nesbitt, Jo., The Desperate Woman's Guide to Therapy.
Miscellaneous
Schmidt Neven, Ruth., Emotional Milestones – From Birth to Adulthood: A Psychodynamic Approach.     

Some limitations of analysis

Abstract :  This paper ¹ considers some of the difficulties that exist in reconciling the 'treatment' and the 'cultural' aspects of analytic ideas and practice; the extent, for example, to which analysis is both ordinary, and extra-ordinary in more than one way. The implications for this for the place of analysis and analytical psychotherapy in the mental health services is considered along with the ways in which there is a diversity of views about the importance of maintaining the presence of analytic ideas and analytic practice in hospitals and clinics. Some of the limitations of analysis are discussed where analytic ideas and methods move away from their application to patients and patients' material into the wider world.     

Interviews on Freud and Jung on Freud and Jung with Henry A. Murray in 1965

Henry Murray became one of the legendary figures in the history of American psychology. Not only was he a leading pioneer in the field of personality theory, but he created (with Christiana Morgan) the Thematic Apperception test. He also took a leading role in making psychological profiles for the American government's Office of Strategic Services during World War II. For years Murray headed the Harvard Psychological Clinic, and also worked on the writings of Herman Melville for almost half of his long life. Murray took a wholly independent path from Freudian and Jungian organizations, yet his memories of contact with Freud and Jung are worth recording. These interviews with Murray were conducted in 1965. To take only one example, the circumstances of Jung's getting his honorary degree from Harvard in 1936 are elucidated, as well as Freud's inquiry to Murray about why he himself had missed out on that occasion. A postcript to the interview, illustrating Murray's capacities as a writer, concerns his spirited response to the Princeton philosopher Walter Kaufmann's inquiry about Roazen's account of the 1936 honorary degree in his 1975 Freud and His Followers.     

Jung's twin brother. Otto Gross and Carl Gustav Jung

This paper is a preliminary communication of several years of research into the life and work of the Austrian psychoanalyst and anarchist Otto Gross (1877–1920). Although he played a pivotal role in the birth of modernity, acting as a significant influence upon psychiatry, psychoanalysis, ethics, sociology and literature, he has remained virtually unknown to this day. Following a biographical sketch and an overview of his main theoretical contributions, the impact of Gross' life and work on the development of analytical theory and practice is described. His relationship with some of the key figures in psychoanalysis is presented, with particular emphasis on his connections to Jung. The paper concludes with an account of relevant contemporary interest in his work: the founding of the International Otto Gross Society, the first edition of The Collected Works of Otto Gross on the Internet, and the 1st and 2nd International Otto Gross Congresses which took place in Berlin in 1999 and at the Burghölzli Clinic, Zürich, in October 2000.     

Family matters The descendants of Freud and Jung

A brief history of what it has meant to be a Jungian analyst and/or analytical psychologist in the United States and England is portrayed. At first the differences between psychoanalysis and analytical psychology were very great, and there was great animosity between the two schools. The conflict was much stronger in the United States than in England where Jungians developed a much better rapport with psychoanalysis. Recent theoretical developments within psychoanalysis, such as the development of self theory and intersubjectivity, as well as speaking about religious issues in a new way, have brought psychoanalysis closer to analytical psychology. On the other hand, analytical psychology has been enriched by an increased awareness of the importance of developmental issues and transference and countertransference. The implications for both psychoanalysis and analytical psychology are explored.     

Archetypes as action patterns1

Abstract: The discovery of mirror neurons by researchers at the University of Parma promises to radically alter our understanding of fundamental cognitive and affective states. This paper explores the relationship of mirror neurons to Jung's theory of archetypes and proposes that archetypes may be viewed as elementary action patterns. The paper begins with a review of a proposed interpretation of the fainting spells of S. Freud in his relationship with Jung as an example of an action pattern that also defines an archetypal image. The challenge that mirror neurons present to traditional views in analytical psychology and psychoanalysis, however, is that they operate without recourse to a cognitive processing element. This is a position that is gaining increasing acceptance in other fields as well. The paper therefore reviews the most recent claims made by the Boston Process of Change Study Group as well as conclusions drawn from dynamic systems views of development and theoretical robotics to underline the conclusion that unconscious agency is not a requirement for coherent action. It concludes with the suggestion that this entire body of research may lead to the conclusion that the dynamic unconscious is an unnecessary hypothesis in psychoanalysis and analytical psychology.