Neo-Freudianism is a
psychoanalytic approach derived from the influence of
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...
but extending his theories towards typically social or cultural aspects of
psychoanalysis
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...
over the biological.
The neo-Freudian
school
A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...
of
psychiatrists
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...
and
psychologist
A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...
s were a group of loosely linked American
theorists/writers of the mid-20th century "who attempted to restate Freudian theory in
sociological terms and to eliminate its connections with
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
."
Dissidents and post-Freudians
Dissidents
The term ''neo-Freudian'' is sometimes loosely (but inaccurately) used to refer to those early followers of Freud who at some point accepted the basic tenets of Freud's theory of
psychoanalysis
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...
but later
dissented from it. "The best-known of these dissenters are
Alfred Adler
Alfred Adler ( ; ; 7 February 1870 – 28 May 1937) was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, relationships within the family, a ...
and
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...
.… The Dissidents."
An interest in the social approach to
psychodynamics
Psychodynamics, also known as psychodynamic psychology, in its broadest sense, is an approach to psychology that emphasizes systematic study of the psychological forces underlying human behavior, feelings, and emotions and how they might relate t ...
was the major theme linking the so-called neo-Freudians:
Alfred Adler
Alfred Adler ( ; ; 7 February 1870 – 28 May 1937) was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, relationships within the family, a ...
had perhaps been "the first to explore and develop a comprehensive social theory of the psychodynamic self."
[Brinich, Paul, and Christopher Shelley. 2002. ''The Self and Personality Structure''. Buckingham.] Following "Adler's death, some of his views…came to exert considerable influence on the neo-Freudian theory." Indeed, it has been suggested of "
Horney and
Sullivan ... that these theorists could be more accurately described as '
neo-Adlerians' than 'neo-Freudians'."
Post-Freudians
The
Independent Analysts Group of the
British Psycho-Analytical Society ("Contemporary Freudians") are—like the
ego-psychologists (e.g.
Heinz Hartmann) or the
intersubjective analysts in the States—perhaps best thought of as "different schools of psychoanalytic thought," or as "Post-Freudians…post-Freudian developments." They are distinct from the
Kleinian schools of thought and include figures such as
Christopher Bollas,
D. W. Winnicott, and
Adam Phillips.
Neo-Freudian ideas
History
As early as 1936,
Erich Fromm
Erich Seligmann Fromm (; ; March 23, 1900 – March 18, 1980) was a German-American social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was a German Jew who fled the Nazi regime and set ...
had been independently regretting that psychoanalysts "did not concern themselves with the variety of life experience…and therefore did not try to explain psychic structure as determined by
social structure
In the social sciences, social structure is the aggregate of patterned social arrangements in society that are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of individuals. Likewise, society is believed to be grouped into structurally rel ...
."
Karen Horney
Karen Horney (; ; ; 16 September 1885 – 4 December 1952) was a German psychoanalyst who practiced in the United States during her later career. Her theories questioned some traditional Freudian views. This was particularly true of her theories ...
, too, "emphasised the role
culture
Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...
exerts in the development of personality and downplayed the classical driven features outlined by Freud."
Erik H. Erikson, for his part, stressed that "psychoanalysis today is…shifting its emphasis…to the study of the
ego's roots in the
social organisation
In sociology, a social organization is a pattern of relationships between and among individuals and groups. Characteristics of social organization can include qualities such as sexual composition, spatiotemporal cohesion, leadership, structu ...
," and that its method should be "what H. S. Sullivan called 'participant', and systematically so."
Doctor and
psychotherapist
Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...
Harald Schultz-Hencke (1892–1953) was thoroughly busy with questions like impulse and inhibition and with the therapy of
psychoses
In psychopathology, psychosis is a condition in which a person is unable to distinguish, in their experience of life, between what is and is not real. Examples of psychotic symptoms are delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized or incoher ...
as well as the
interpretation of dreams. He worked with
Matthias Göring in his institute (''Deutsches Institut für psychologische Forschung und Psychotherapie''), and created the name ''Neopsychoanalyse'' in 1945. The "Neo-Freudian revolt against the orthodox theory of
instincts" was thus anchored in a sense of what
Harry Stack Sullivan
Herbert "Harry" Stack Sullivan (February 21, 1892 – January 14, 1949) was an American neo-Freudian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who held that "personality can never be isolated from the complex interpersonal relationships in which person liv ...
termed "our incredibly culture-ridden life." By their writings, and "in accessible prose, Fromm, Horney, and others mounted a cultural and social
critique
Critique is a method of disciplined, systematic study of a written or oral discourse. Although critique is frequently understood as fault finding and negative judgment, Rodolphe Gasché (2007''The honor of thinking: critique, theory, philosophy ...
which became almost
conventional wisdom
The conventional wisdom or received opinion is the body of ideas or explanations generally accepted by the public and/or by experts in a field.
History
The term "conventional wisdom" dates back to at least 1838, as a synonym for "commonplace kno ...
."
Through informal and more formal institutional links, such as the
William Alanson White Institute, as well as through likeness of ideas, the neo-Freudians made up a cohesively distinctive and influential psychodynamic movement.
Basic anxiety
Karen Horney
Karen Horney (; ; ; 16 September 1885 – 4 December 1952) was a German psychoanalyst who practiced in the United States during her later career. Her theories questioned some traditional Freudian views. This was particularly true of her theories ...
theorized that to deal with
basic anxiety, the individual has three options:
# Moving toward others'':'' Accept the situation and become dependent on others. This strategy may entail an exaggerated desire for approval or affection.
# Moving against others: Resist the situation and become aggressive. This strategy may involve an exaggerated need for power, exploitation of others, recognition, or achievement.
# Moving away from others: Withdraw from others and become isolated. This strategy may involve an exaggerated need for self-sufficiency, privacy, or independence.
Basic personality
The neo-Freudian
Abram Kardiner was primarily interested in learning how a specific society acquires adaptation concerning its environment. He does this by forming within its members what he names a "
basic personality." The "basic personality" can initially be traced to the operation of primary institutions. It ultimately creates clusters of unconscious motivations in the specific individual "which in turn are projected in the form of secondary institutions," such as reality systems. The basic personality finds expression in the secondary institutions.
Criticism
"
Fenichel developed a stringent theoretical critique of the neo-Freudians", which informed and fed into the way "
Herbert Marcuse
Herbert Marcuse ( ; ; July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979) was a German–American philosopher, social critic, and Political philosophy, political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Born in Berlin, Marcuse studied at ...
, in his 'Critique of Neo-Freudian Revisionism'...icily examines the tone of uplift and the Power of Positive Thinking that pervades the revisionists' writings, and mocks their claims to scientific seriousness."
In comparable fashion, "an article…by Mr
Edward Glover, entitled ''Freudian or Neo-Freudian'', directed entirely against the constructions of Mr Alexander" equally used the term as a form of orthodox reproach.
In the wake of such contemporary criticism, a "consistent critique levelled at most theorists cited above is that they compromise the intrapersonal interiority of the psyche;" but one may accept nonetheless that "they have contributed an enduring and vital collection of standpoints relating to the human subject."
Influence, successors, and offshoots
In 1940,
Carl Rogers
Carl Ransom Rogers (January 8, 1902 – February 4, 1987) was an American psychologist who was one of the founders of humanistic psychology and was known especially for his person-centered psychotherapy. Rogers is widely considered one of the f ...
had launched what would become
person-centred psychotherapy, "crediting its roots in the therapy of
Rank
A rank is a position in a hierarchy. It can be formally recognized—for example, cardinal, chief executive officer, general, professor—or unofficial.
People Formal ranks
* Academic rank
* Corporate title
* Diplomatic rank
* Hierarchy ...
...& in the neo-Freudian analysts—especially
Karen Horney
Karen Horney (; ; ; 16 September 1885 – 4 December 1952) was a German psychoanalyst who practiced in the United States during her later career. Her theories questioned some traditional Freudian views. This was particularly true of her theories ...
."
[Kirschenbaum, Howard. 2007.''The Life and Work of Carl Rogers''. Ross-on-Wye.] A decade later, he would report that it had "developed along somewhat different paths than the psychotherapeutic views of Horney or Sullivan, or Alexander and French, yet there are many threads of interconnection with these modern formulations of psychoanalytic thinking."
A half-century further on, whether by direct or by indirect influence, "consistent with the traditions of these schools, current theorists of the social and psychodynamic self are working in the spaces between social and political theory and psychoanalysis" once again.
Cultural offshoots
In his skit on Freud's remark that "if my name were Oberhuber, my innovations would have found far less resistance,"
Peter Gay
Peter Joachim Gay ( né Fröhlich ; June 20, 1923 – May 12, 2015) was a German-American historian, educator, and author. He was a Sterling Professor of History at Yale University and former director of the New York Public Library's Center for ...
, considering the notional eclipse of "Oberhuber" by his replacement Freud, adjudged that "the prospect that deviants would have to be called neo-Oberhuberians, or Oberhuberian revisionists, contributed to the master's decline."
[Gay (1990), p. 163]
Neo-Freudians
*
Alfred Adler
Alfred Adler ( ; ; 7 February 1870 – 28 May 1937) was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, relationships within the family, a ...
*
Erik Erikson
Erik Homburger Erikson (born Erik Salomonsen; 15 June 1902 – 12 May 1994) was a German-American child psychoanalyst and visual artist known for his theory on psychosocial development of human beings. He coined the phrase identity crisis.
...
*
Erich Fromm
Erich Seligmann Fromm (; ; March 23, 1900 – March 18, 1980) was a German-American social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, and democratic socialist. He was a German Jew who fled the Nazi regime and set ...
*
Frieda Fromm-Reichmann
*
Karen Horney
Karen Horney (; ; ; 16 September 1885 – 4 December 1952) was a German psychoanalyst who practiced in the United States during her later career. Her theories questioned some traditional Freudian views. This was particularly true of her theories ...
*
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...
*
Abram Kardiner
*
Harald Schultz-Hencke
*
Harry Stack Sullivan
Herbert "Harry" Stack Sullivan (February 21, 1892 – January 14, 1949) was an American neo-Freudian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who held that "personality can never be isolated from the complex interpersonal relationships in which person liv ...
*
Clara Thompson
Clara Mabel Thompson (October 3, 1893 in Providence, Rhode Island – December 20, 1958 in New York City) was a prominent psychiatrist and psychoanalyst and co-founder of the William Alanson White Institute. She published articles and books ab ...
Others with possible neo-Freudian links
*
Franz Alexander
*
Jessica Benjamin
*
Nancy Chodorow
*
Richard Hakim
*
Thomas Ogden
*
David Rapaport
David A. Rapaport (September 30, 1911, Budapest, Austria-Hungary – December 14, 1960, Stockbridge, Mass.) was a Hungarian clinical psychologist and psychoanalytic ego psychologist.
Biography
Rapaport was born in Budapest, Hungary on Septemb ...
*
Alex Unger
References
Citations
Sources
* Gunn, Jacqueline Simon, Kyle Arnold, and Erica Freeman. 2015.
The Dynamic Self Searching for Growth and Authenticity: Karen Horney's Contribution to Humanistic Psychology. ''
The Forum of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry'' 59(2):20–23.
* Mitchell, S. A., and M. J. Black. 1995. ''Freud and Beyond: A History of Modern Psychoanalytic Thought''. USA: Basic Books.
*
Thompson, Clara. 1950. ''Psychoanalysis: Evolution and Development''. New York: Thomas Nelson & Sons.
{{Sigmund Freud
Freudian psychology
Neopsychoanalytic schools