Therese Benedek
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Therese Benedek (November 8, 1892 – October 27, 1977) was a
Hungarian-American Hungarian Americans (, ) are Americans of Hungarian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that there are approximately 1.396 million Americans of Hungarian descent as of 2018. The total number of people with ethnic Hungarian backgroun ...
psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk th ...
, researcher, and educator. Active in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
between the years 1921 and 1977, she was regarded for her work on
psychosomatic medicine Psychosomatic medicine is an interdisciplinary medical field exploring the relationships among social, psychological, behavioral factors on bodily processes and quality of life in humans and animals. The academic forebearer of the modern field o ...
, women's
psychosexual development In psychoanalysis, psychosexual development is a central element of the sexual drive theory. According to Freud, personality develops through a series of childhood stages in which pleasure-seeking energies from the child become focused on certa ...
,
sexual dysfunction Sexual dysfunction is difficulty experienced by an individual or partners during any stage of normal sexual activity, including physical pleasure, desire, preference, arousal, or orgasm. The World Health Organization defines sexual dysfunction ...
, and family relationships. She was a faculty and staff member of the
Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis The Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute (formerly Institute for Psychoanalysis until it was renamed in May 2018) is a center for psychoanalytic research, training, and education on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. The institute provides professio ...
from 1936 to 1969.


Early life and education

Therese Friedmann was born in
Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights, Eger is best known for Castle of Eger, its ...
, Hungary, to a traditional Jewish family. Her parents were Ignatius Friedmann and Charlotte Link Friedmann, and she had one brother and two sisters. When she was six years old, her family moved to
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
. She was the only one of her siblings to receive a university education, graduating from the
University of Budapest A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
with a doctorate in medicine in 1916. She was a participant of the
Galileo Circle The Galileo Circle (''Galilei Kör'') was an atheist-materialist student organization that functioned in Budapest between 1908 and 1919. Their center was located at the Anker Palace#Anker Köz, Anker Köz in Terézváros, Budapest. The circle had ...
.


Career

Benedek initially decided to pursue a career in
child psychology Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, ...
and study the effects of maternal separation on infant emotions. She completed the requirements for a residency in pediatrics in 1918 and began working as an assistant physician at the St. Elizabeth University pediatric clinic in
Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
. She left this position in 1919 and married shortly afterward. Having taken courses from Hungarian psychoanalyst
Sándor Ferenczi Sándor Ferenczi (; 7 July 1873 – 22 May 1933) was a Hungarian Psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst, a key theorist of the psychoanalytic school and a close associate of Sigmund Freud. Biography Born Sándor Fraenkel to Baruch Fränkel and Rosa ...
, an associate 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 ...
, during her university days, she decided to switch her career track to
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 ...
. She underwent a five-month
training analysis A training analysis is a psychoanalysis undergone by a candidate (perhaps a physician with specialty in psychiatry or a psychologist) as a part of her/his training to be a psychoanalyst; the (senior) psychoanalyst who performs such an analysis is c ...
with Ferenczi before leaving Budapest. In 1920 she and her new husband relocated to Germany to escape the political upheaval in Hungary. In 1920 she became an assistant physician at the Neurological-Psychiatric Clinic of the
University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...
and in 1921 opened the city's first private psychoanalytic practice, becoming a
training analyst A training analysis is a psychoanalysis undergone by a candidate (perhaps a physician with specialty in psychiatry or a psychologist) as a part of her/his training to be a psychoanalyst; the (senior) psychoanalyst who performs such an analysis is c ...
. From 1933 to 1935 she was a training and supervisory analyst at the
Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute The Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute (, BPI; later the Göring Institute (''Göring-Institut'') and Karl Abraham Institute (''Karl-Abraham-Institut'')) was founded in 1920 to further the science of psychoanalysis in Berlin. Its founding members incl ...
. Although as a Jew she was a target of the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
in Germany in the mid-1930s, Benedek did not feel the need to emigrate, since she considered herself a Hungarian rather than a Jew. Nevertheless, in 1936 her husband convinced her to leave Germany and accept the offer of
Franz Alexander Franz Gabriel Alexander (; born Alexander Ferenc Gábor, ; 22 January 1891 – 8 March 1964) was a Hungarian-American psychoanalyst and physician, who is considered one of the founders of psychosomatic medicine and psychoanalytic criminology. ...
to work as a training analyst for the
Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis The Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute (formerly Institute for Psychoanalysis until it was renamed in May 2018) is a center for psychoanalytic research, training, and education on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. The institute provides professio ...
. She was a faculty and staff member, engaging in teaching, supervising, and research at the institute, for the next 34 years. She acquired her U.S. medical license in 1937 and her U.S. citizenship in 1943. Her husband joined the faculty of
Northwestern University School of Medicine The Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, formerly Northwestern Medical School from 1906 to 2002, is the medical school of Northwestern University and is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Founded in ...
.


Research

Benedek is said to have "played a central role in the development of psychoanalysis in the United States". Influenced by the theories of
hysteria Hysteria is a term used to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, female hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that the bas ...
promulgated by Freud, her early research had sought a link between psychological and endocrinal factors for such problems as anxiety, aggression, and diabetes. In the United States, working with endocrinologist Boris B. Rubinstein, she conducted extensive studies on the correlation between
ovulation Ovulation is an important part of the menstrual cycle in female vertebrates where the egg cells are released from the ovaries as part of the ovarian cycle. In female humans ovulation typically occurs near the midpoint in the menstrual cycle and ...
and female emotions, resulting in the 1942 book ''The Sexual Cycle in Women''. Benedek explored a link between the estrogen/progesterone cycle and a woman's desire to engage in sexual intercourse, nurture a pregnancy, and raise children. She also described the "modern" woman's struggle with her natural maternal role. Benedek's analysis of the "un-motherly modern mother" was widely praised and included in psychology and medical teaching manuals. Benedek also studied the effects of
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...
and
democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...
on relationships between spouses and their children. Her 1949 paper ''Parenthood as a Developmental Phase: A contribution to the libido theory'' rejected the prevailing theory that psychological development stopped after adolescence; Benedek maintained that it continued throughout parenthood. She published further research on parenthood, family relationships, and depression into her seventies, and continued seeing patients in private practice after her retirement from the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis in 1969.


Affiliations

In Germany Benedek was a member of the Berlin Psychoanalytic Society. In the United States she belonged to national and international psychoanalytic organizations and served as president of the Chicago Psychoanalytic Society from 1958 to 1959. On her eightieth birthday in 1972, the Therese Benedek Research Foundation was established in her honor.


Personal life

In 1919 she married Tibor Benedek, a dermatologist and researcher. She and her husband, a Hungarian Protestant, attended church together regularly. They had one son and one daughter. She died of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
on October 27, 1977, aged 84. Her husband predeceased her by three years. Her papers are stored at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis.


Bibliography


Books

* * (with Boris Benjamin Rubenstein) * * (with Joan Fleming) * (with E. James Anthony) * (with E. James Anthony)


Selected articles

* * * * * * * – collected papers, 1931-1968


References


Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benedek, Therese 1892 births 1977 deaths American psychoanalysts Jewish psychoanalysts German psychoanalysts Jewish Hungarian scientists Eötvös Loránd University alumni American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent People from Eger Health professionals from Chicago Hungarian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American psychologists