An Incomplete Education - 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned but Probably Didn't

432 AN I N C O M P L E T E

ego—off the hook by
still merely anal, say, a
by Daddy just because

3. Projection

The anger is attribute
unnecessary. Projectio
of it by pushing it out
would bury it. Project
causes you to hear ce
ego, of course, but you

4. Denial
This is the wholesale f
Whereas repression se
from those of the outs
in children; in adults (
tical), denial can indic

5. Reaction formation

Here you convince yo
and unacceptable is, i
zillion times a day.
obsessive-compulsive)
hates, often institutin
ings at bay.

6. Reversal
This one's as old as th
it, along with repressi
young ego used. (Yo
dumb" "No, you're d
(below), it is usually i
fensive maneuvers.

7. Displacement
The emotion is transf
to a safe one, who can'
having gone this far, w

E EDUCATION

taking you back to a time when things were easier,
and you didn't have to worry about being castrated
e you happened to love M o m m y

"Oh, no, I'm not mad at Daddy. Mommy is
mad at Daddy."
ed to someone else; guilt and anxiety thus become
on doesn't alter the nature of the feeling: It gets rid
into the world, to the same degree that repression
ion can be dangerous, though; it's this defense that
ensuring voices. Those voices are only your super­
u don't know that.

"You must be crazy. I'm not mad at Daddy."
falsification of reality, and the flip side of repression.
evers the ego from internal pressures, denial severs it
side world. It's perfecdy normal—desirable, even—
(for whom full-scale fantasy lives are no longer prac­
cate advanced mental illness.

" M a d at Daddy? I love Daddy! Where is he
anyway? I want to sit in his lap."
ourself that the exact opposite of something awful
n fact, true, then replay your revised version of it a
A veteran reaction formationer (most often an
) becomes excessively solicitous of the person he
ng elaborate ceremonial acts to keep his true feel­

" M a d at Daddy? Daddy's mad at mel "
he first conflict between ego and instincts; in fact,
ion, was one of the first defense mechanisms your
ou used it yourself in first grade: It's the "You're
dumb" of the playground.) Like displacement
invoked as a preliminary to more complicated de­

"Mad at Daddy? I'm mad at Rags. Bad dog!"
ferred from a dangerous object, who can retaliate,
't. A s with reversal, it's usually a first step: The ego,
will probably give things at least one more twist—

regression, say, or reaction formation. Oth
how you really felt.

8. Isolation "Yes, I guess I'm

fun to shoot him

have some more

Recognition minus affect: You don't bothe

the traumatic emotion, you just disconnect

without feeling a thing.

9. Intellectualization "Well, yes, I am

wishing him dea

all to myself, wh

mal at my age."

Isolation for smart people. In this one, als

you overthink the problem in order to av

emotion or anxiety behind it.

10. Undoing "Uh-oh, I'm very

line up all my ted

even with the sq

Here, an action is meant to expiate an emo

the ego can't bear to deal with. Undoing c

something out (for instance, shopping your

everything you've bought) or magically do

(and apparently unrelated) ritual.

11. Sublimation "Mad at Daddy?

this finger painti

O f all the mechanisms of defense, the onl

time it's acquired, the superego's well in pla

some useful endeavor, transforming the in

socially useful. Artists are alleged to be the

expressing in paint, clay, or guitar riffs wha

stomach linings. Freud said it best, of cour

[The artist] opens out to others the w
and consolation of their own uncon
sure, and so reaps their gratitude an
has won—through his phantasy—wh
win in phantasy; honour, power, and

PSYCHOLOGY 433

herwise, you might figure out

m mad at Daddy. It would be
m and watch him die. May I

milk and cookies, please?"
er to deny, repress, or reshape
t from it. You can talk about it

mad at Daddy. I'm probably
ad so that I can have Mommy
ich, of course, is quite nor­

so known as "rationalization,"
void making contact with the

y mad at Daddy. I'd better go
ddy bears so they're exactly
quares on my rug."
otion, or an earlier action, that
can involve actually canceling
rself bankrupt, then returning
oing so, through a compulsive

? Excuse me, I really must get
ing finished."
ly truly desirable one. By the
ace, channeling the libido into
nstinctually gratifying into the
e biggest sublimaters around,
t the rest of us take out on our
rse:

way back to the comfort
nscious sources of plea­
nd admiration; then he
hat before he could only
d the love of women.

434 AN I N C O M P L E T E

Return
Quie

in a Working-Class Nei
Where, in a Darkened S
(and a Nosebleed) Becko

Please, Feel Free to

FREUD A

Freud, like the philosopher
for that matter, the physi
tem for solving the mysteries
procedure that would, he hop
man's being that force him in
tent. For Freud, this procedur
analysand) to lie on the couc
came to mind, no matter how
ment was often, literally, nig
beach for the analyst, either. A
up the most evil of those half
seeks to wrestle with them, ca

He didn't. Nor, presumably
whom undergo, on the follow
Barbara Waxenberg, Ph.D.

E EDUCATION

with Us Now to a
et Side Street

ighborhood in Turn-of-the-Century Vienna,
Second-Floor Room, a Man with a White Beard
ons You to Lie Down on a Horsehair Sofa. And

Say Whatever Comes into Your Mind. . .

AND HIS FOLLOWERS

rs who preceded him and the psychoanalysts—and,
cists—who followed, struggled to formulate a sys­
of the soul. What he came up with: a therapeutic
ped, help recover those dark, submerged parts of
nto a lifetime of repetitive action and ritual discon­
re called for the patient (henceforth known as the
ch for fifty-five minutes and relate anything that
w silly, shameful, or self-incriminating. If the treat­
ghtmarish for the analysand, it was no day at the
As Freud warned, "No one who, like me, conjures
-tamed demons that inhabit the human breast and
an expect to come through the struggle unscathed."
y, did five of his most prominent disciples. All of
wing pages, short-term treatment with contributor

SIGMUND FREUD (H

In the beginning there was Freud—or as he is univ
with the pronoun wired inextricably to the noun.
immediately reveals you to be a parvenu on the ps
lish your credentials among the cognoscenti, you
metapsychological point is discussed, ask whether
early writings (1895-1900) or to the middle phase
to theories which Freud himself (see how it s done?
also adds a bit of heft to throw in such remarks as "
in 'Analysis Terminable and Interminable,' Freud h

It was in the early period that Freud made some o
tributions: the nature of the unconscious, the mec
sistance, the phenomenon of transference, the sign
road to the unconscious," as he put it), and the m
also developed his seduction theory, the belief tha
tual sexual assaults on young children, a theory he l
belief that such traumas were not real events, but
unconscious wishes. This recasting of seduction, ex
an external event to an internal conflict-laden desir
what psychoanalysis was all about; henceforth, he
intrapsychic forces over the individual and his envi
the dominant bias of psychoanalysis until it was c
Sândor Ferenczi in 1925 and, much more vehemen
decade later. It tied psychoanalysis to an instinctual
ogy and based on sequential phases of infant sexu
work for viewing the Oedipal conflict as a universal
development.

The word "metapsychology" has been defined a
cannot be verified or disproved by observation or r
verifiableness can be eternally argued. The further
theory is, the more easily it remains enshrined in th
is with Freud's instinctual-drive theory. For Freud,
constant and inescapable force that creates a state of
ducing. Although man (and woman, but Freud w
what, exactly, women want) is regulated by the pl
more or less defined as the absence of excitation. S
turn-of-the-century Vienna. Instincts have a sou
body, an aim (the removal of excitation), and an ob
satisfaction of the aim is achieved). In the Freudia
be a person, although everyone would probably agr

PSYCHOLOGY 435

HIMSELF)

ersally labeled, Freud himself,
Not to refer to him this way
sychoanalytic scene. To estab­
must, whenever some arcane
the speaker is referring to the
(roughly 1900-1910); that is,
?) revised in his later papers. It
"Yes, but in 'On Narcissism' or
himself said . . ."
of his most revolutionary con­
hanisms of repression and re­
nificance of dreams ("the royal
method of free association. H e
at neuroses stemmed from ac­
ater abandoned in favor of the
fantasies that stemmed from
xploitation, and betrayal from
re was to color Freud's sense of
would emphasize the idea of
ironment. This was to remain
challenged by Otto Rank and
ndy, by Harry Stack Sullivan a
l-drive theory, rooted in biol­
uality. It also laid the ground­
l experience, pivotal in human

as a psychological theory that
reasoning. Which is to say, its

removed from consensus the
he hearts of its followers. So it

the instinctual drive acts as a
f tension that one works at re­
was notoriously puzzled about
leasure principle, "pleasure" is
S o much for fun and games in
urce of excitation within the
bject (the means by which the
n model, this object need not
ree that if the desired "object"

436 AN I N C O M P L E T E

turns out to be a statue or a Fr
nal energies or losing one's ma

In tracing the stages of hum
ing is first experienced in the
later shifts to the anus, where
pulsion of feces; and ultimately
so called phallic stage. Under
gresses in orderly sequence. F
stitution, libido is bound at a p
of it never advances beyond th
on in life, he is likely to regres
ior take shape according to the
possessiveness, meticulousness
traits, while passivity and help
ones.

The phallic period coincide
tral in the Freudian theory of n
at about age three, when little
the opposite sex and killing of
often quite flattering to Mom
with bulges, hair loss, and his s
it can be a bit wearing on the
down poorly with morning co
about age five or six when the
revenge), turns away from Mo
television instead of primal sc
during which sexual interest is
since she's got nothing to lose
with her fancy equipment. An
everything and it's not fair! Bu
feminine role (i.e., her castrati
and represses her incestuous w

According to Freud, the ba
tween ages one and six and all
structural terms, conflicts exis
of sexual and aggressive impu
(which ward off the direct dis
ness), and superego restriction
and cultural standards). The e
forces of the id and the censor
choneuroses, the ego becomes

E EDUCATION

rench poodle, one is wasting one's time and libidi­
arbles.
man development, Freud postulated that erotic feel­
mouth, the newborn's primary source of pleasure;
e enjoyment is derived from the retention and ex­
y, at about age three or four, to the genitals, in the
r normal conditions, interest in these organs pro­
Fixation occurs when, as a result of trauma or con­
particular developmental stage so that some portion
his point. When the person gets into trouble later
ss to the point of fixation. Adult patterns of behav­
e way each erotic phase is negotiated. For example,
s, orderliness, and retentiveness are viewed as anal
plessness or sadism and exploitation are seen as oral

es with that of the Oedipus complex, which is cen­
neurotic development and which begins to develop
e girls and boys decide that marrying the parent of
ff the parent of the same one is a neat idea. This is
m y or Daddy, who is probably having a hard time
spouse and who could do with a bit of stroking. But
parent rival. "When is Daddy going to die?" goes
offee. The family romance begins to wear thin at
boy, fearing castration by his father (a bit of talion
o m , identifies with Dad, and goes back to watching
cenes for the years of the so called latency period,
s in abeyance. The fate of the girl is more complex
e, ostensibly because Mommy's already done away
nd now Mommy has Daddy and Daddy's penis and
ut eventually she identifies with mother, accepts the
ion and penis envy), adopts a Cabbage Patch doll,
wishes. Ho hum.
ases for psychological disorder are laid down be­
l later learning is an elaboration of early conflict. In
st among id impulses (those unconscious reservoirs
ulses constantly seeking discharge), ego defenses
scharge of the impulse and its access to conscious­
ns (the stern conscience which embodies parental
embattled ego must mediate between the primitive
ring, guilt-inducing power of the superego. In psy-
s progressively less able to effect satisfactory com-

promises and is eventually overwhelmed. T h e ultim
to increase the relative strength of the ego so that it
sures from above and below and with external reali

Originally, Freud postulated a life-preserving i
After World War I, he turned his attention more
pressed aggression. This gave rise to his second in
tween Eros, the life-preserving instinct, and Tha
aggression and the compulsion to repeat events are
to the death instinct. Since man strives for a hom
minimal, death would be the ultimate relief of this

Today, while Freud's biomechanical view of hum
ously (and continually) questioned, his method o
concepts of transference, repetition, and resistanc
scious experience remain the cornerstones of the an

FIVE FOLLOWE

Psychoanalysis was—and is—a rigorous undertaki
actly what they used to be. Freud saw the same t
days a week (and then wrote late into the night);
more pleasure-seeking and self-preservative, will
five times a week (and then sit down to dinner).
were more compact in those days, extending from
than six to twelve years, perhaps because the arra
ria to obsessional neurosis to phobia, were more
today's vague anxieties, characterological issues, a

Then there are differences that now exist between
say, the Interpersonalists, who maintain that they co
rather than the Freudians' "Oedipal cliché," and th
Interpersonalists of not dealing with unconscious e
sion, there are even theorists who point out that onl
or a nut would accept a stranger's invitation to lie d
back to him, and spill your guts while the stranger

There's nothing new about such dissension; it's k
and it's been characteristic of the psychoanalytic
Adler challenged Freud in 1910 over the relative im
Adler viewed the core problem as man's struggle to
ority (he coined the phrase "inferiority complex") an
plete man"—in the face of physical handicaps and

PSYCHOLOGY 431

mate aim of psychoanalysis is
can effectively deal with pres­
ity.
instinct and a sexual instinct.
e fully to the problem of re­
nstinct theory, the conflict be­
natos, the death force. Both
e, in complicated ways, related
meostasis in which tension is
tension.
man functioning has been seri­
of psychoanalytic inquiry, his
ce, and his theory of uncon­
nalytic process.

ERS

ing, but its rigors are not ex­
twelve patients every day, six

present-day psychoanalysts,
l see a patient only three to
On the other hand, analyses
m six to twelve months, rather
ay of symptoms, from hyste­
amenable to treatment than
and "disorders of the self."
n analytical schools; between,
ontact the "unique individual"
he Freudians, who accuse the
experience. To add to the ten­
ly a masochist, a social isolate,
down on his couch, turn your
says nothing in response.
known in science as pluralism,
movement ever since Alfred
mportance of the sexual drives.
o overcome feelings of inferi­
nd saw the "wish to be a com­
d environmental conflicts—as

43? AN I N C O M P L E T E

the guiding fiction behind eve
society as a limitation on the
essential to mental health. Fr
Adler the door (and would lat
was formerly an analyst").

Next to exit was Carl Jung
sex. H e saw man as influence
unconscious and his heavy u
which conflict with his animal
sexual in origin, but no longer
Jung developed a theory of
types: the introvert who is ab
turns outward at the expense
was always the achieving of a
scious; that alone could make
neurotic symptoms were not
Freud maintained, but were o
own disequilibrium, and there
synthesis.

And that was just the first
subsequent generations of reb
together, have effectively chal
and what it ought to (and can

Melanie Klein (1882-19

If pr
stead
bies.
rival
yet d
poten
nurse
lence
Poe,

Br
phase
lates
and
recog

E EDUCATION

ery neurosis. Moreover, unlike Freud, who regarded
individual, Adler came to see social interaction as
reud, never one to take kindly to dissent, showed
ter refer to him cuttingly as "Dr. Alfred Adler, who

g, who also objected to Freud s heavy emphasis on
ed by higher forces (in his emphasis on a collective
se of symbolism, Jung could get pretty mystical),
l nature. Libido was regarded as a general life force,
r reducible, in adulthood, to its sexual components.

character based on two fundamental personality
bsorbed in his inner world, and the extrovert who
of private experience. For Jung, the overriding goal
a harmony between the conscious and the uncon­

a person one and whole. Moreover, he argued that
always the residue of an unhappy childhood, as
often attempts on the part of the mind to correct its
efore could serve as pointers to a more satisfactory

t generation. The following pages concentrate on
bellious, argumentative, and lapsed Freudians who,
llenged the Master's view of what psychoanalysis is
n) accomplish.

960): Hypothesis on Hypothesis

rospective parents were to read Melanie Klein in­
d of Benjamin Spock, there would be a lot fewer ba­

Klein's writings, if understood, would probably
the pill as the most effective form of birth control
devised. For to bear a "Kleinian baby" is to bring a
ntial cauldron of destructiveness and hate into the
ery, a child whose fantasies rival, in greed, malevo­
e and envy, those of Stephen King, Edgar Allan
and the Marquis de Sade.
riefly, Klein subdivided the first year of life into two
es; the paranoid-schizoid, in which the infant re­
to anatomical parts of persons, chiefly the breast
penis; and the depressive, in which the mother is
gnized as a whole person who can therefore be de-

stroyed by the child's own hatefulness. In essence,
structing elaborate phantasies (Kleinians use the ph
tension of the term to the imaginings of the infant)
nourishes and is loved, and the bad breast, which
destroyed. Don't even ask about botde-fed babies; t
already. Under the impact of anxiety and frustra
phantasies extend to the mother's entire body, wh
kinds of goodies, including the father's penis, inc
Klein writes, "The dominant aim [of the baby] is
tents of the mother's body and to destroy her by m
sadism can command."

Meanwhile, the infant tries to incorporate en
stances to neutralize the bad objects and substanc
a Jungian, as well as a Dracula-like, feeling to al
primordial, racial unconscious. The newborn ent
sense of the existence of the mother and the cont
bies live in a doggie-eat-doggie world in which pu
bad breast or emptying the good one are anxious
this jungle, the child wards off the dangers of the
"splitting" or separating their images from the go
this weren't bad enough, even the "good" is contam
envy, stirred up by the fact that the appearance an
laden good breast is controlled by the mother and
sult to injury, bad objects seem even more malev
projected onto them by the rageful, greedy child w

This takes us up to the second half of the first
that a lifetime has already been lived) when, if all
schizoid position is superseded by the depressiv
feature of this position is the unification of the m
into good and bad entities, she becomes a single
bad features. Integration, naturally enough, brin
good features of the mother are now no longer p
structiveness.

Klein took Freud's death instinct and his theorie
them, adding her own view of envy as a biological
tributes little, but, like a mirror, reflects the baby's
Klein did not concern herself with parental defects
trated solely on the child's destructive urges and reg
Sullivan, Karen Horney, Erich Fromm, and Erik E
from W. R. D . Fairbairn and Donald Winnicott in
plished was to focus attention on the earliest stage
fore the Oedipal conflict comes into play. Althoug

PSYCHOLOGY 439

, the infant is capable of con­
h spelling to express their ex­
) about the good breast, which

deprives and is consequently
things are complicated enough
ation, the child's desires and
hich is seen as containing all
orporated during intercourse.
to possess himself of the con­
means of every weapon which

nough good objects and sub­
ces in his own body. There is
l this, an acceptance of some
ers the world with an innate
tents of her body. Klein's ba­
unishments for destroying the
sly anticipated. To survive in
e bad objects and feelings by
od objects and feelings. As if
minated by primitive forces of
nd disappearance of the milk-
d not by the child. To add in­
volent because of the hatred
whose needs are insatiable.
year (although it might seem

has gone well, the paranoid-
ve position. The outstanding
mother; no longer safely split
e person with both good and

gs with it despair, since the
rotected from the child's de-

es of aggression and ran with
given. The environment con­
s own conflicts back on him.
s and sufferings; she concen­
grets. In this, she differed from
Erikson in America, as well as
n England. What she accom­
e of human development, be­
gh she retained Freud's drive

440 AN I N C O M P L E T E

model and his id-ego-supereg
tally orthodox in approach, t
schema. Instead of regarding d
them as passionate feelings o
dramatic tragedy that has its r
framework, the Oedipal conf
struction than a struggle with
aggressive phantasies and fear

Klein's work split the Briti
loyal to her, the other to Ann
nonaligned group. Although
on the importance of pre-Oe
narcissistic disorders has lent

Harry Stack Sullivan (1

Things Are Often Wha

After all
America
comes as
bound up
person o
Freud co
the indiv
others.

For Su
of the an
tions to
directly o
curring i
to menti
Thus Su
ney, Eri
spawned a new psychiatric mo
sense of and responds to wh
biological-drive that is the pil
stand the individual, one must
he is enmeshed; one must pa
"intrapsychic."

E EDUCATION

go terminology and regarded herself as fundamen­
there is little of Freud's psychophysiology in her
drives as discrete quantities of energy, she redefined
f love and hate. She saw human life as an intense
roots in the infant's constitutional makeup. In this
flict becomes more a wrestling for power and de­

libidinous impulses. Anxiety and guilt stem from
r of retaliation.
ish Psychoanalytic Society into two factions, one
na Freud. Others, like Winnicott, formed a third,
Klein's views are unverifiable, the recent emphasis
edipal life in the understanding of borderline and
more credence to her theories.

1892-1949):
t They Seem

this meta-messing, Harry Stack Sullivan, a native
n of the what-you-see-is-what-you-get school,
s a relief. For Sullivan, what you see (and get) is all
p with how you participate: We can know another
nly in terms of how we interact with him. Where
oncentrated on what went on within the psyche of
vidual, Sullivan focused on his relationships with

ullivan, the data of psychoanalysis—the behavior
nalysand and the analyst's public and private reac­
what the patient says and does—are there to be
observed; excluded are all hypothetical events oc­
in some never-never land "inside" the patient, not
ion the unconscious as an explanatory concept.
ullivan, along with Clara Thompson, Karen Hor-
ich Fromm, and Frieda Fromm-Reichmann,
ovement in America, based on how a person makes
hat is going on around him, rather than on the
llar of Freudian theory. In other words, to under­
t understand the network of relationships in which
ay attention to the "interactional" rather than the

What really interested Sullivan was why people
ductive and creative lives and, instead, stereotypical
fying actions. Perhaps influenced by the insecu
Depression, Sullivan pared down his motivational s
isfaction (both biological and emotional) and secu
avoidance of anxiety). The search for satisfaction
toward involvement with others; Sullivan thoug
painful of human experiences.

Like Klein's child, Sullivan's develops notions of
van saw these impressions as linked to the actual re
derivatives of the fantasy life of the child. Sullivan'
ious mother; his bad is a nervous or timid soul who
her distress to the child, who then gradually lear
order to modulate Mommy's anxiety. O f the child's
malevolence and mystification, Sullivan wrote, "O
was lovely, but that was before I had to deal with p

Sullivan came up with the Self System, that con
been reinforced by the affirmation of the significa
and the security operations the child develops in
threats to self-esteem. Three areas are delineated
smiling and not all wigged out and I feel pretty goo
my's feeling anxious and cross and I'm not feeling
me" (she's flipping her lid and I'm shaking from
raised children instead of cocker spaniels, he mig
"who me," as in "Did you glue all your underwear to
didn't. And he didn't.

The Self System acts as a steering mechanism d
periences that are associated with parental approv
and away from ones that have met with disapproval
out of awareness. From all of this arises a pattern of
If I act weak and helpless, then You, like my parents
taking. If I am adorable, You must be admiring, and
pairings "parataxic integrations": They become rigid
sometimes almost completely overlaying one's perc
one's life, who, stripped of their individuality, are s
parental figures.

PSYCHOLOGY 44i

e failed so badly at living pro­
lly repeated the same unsatis­
urities and privations of the
system to two basic needs: sat­
urity (which he viewed as the
n inevitably propels a person
ght loneliness was the most

f "good" and "bad," but Sulli­
esponses of the mother, not as
's good mother is the nonanx-
o empathically communicates
rns to modify his behavior in
s introduction to the world of
Once upon a time everything
people."
nfiguration of traits that have
ant persons in the child's life,
n order to avoid anxiety and
d: the "good me" (Mommy's
od too); the "bad me" (Mom­
too cool either); and the "not
head to toe). If Sullivan had
ght have added the category
ogether?" "Who, me?" But he

directing the child toward ex­
al and freedom from anxiety,
l and are subsequently blocked
I-You interlocking behaviors:
s, must be solicitous and care-
d so on. Sullivan labeled these
dified and dominate adult life,
ceptions of the real people in
seen as echoes and shadows of

442 AN I N C O M P L E T E

Donald W. Winnicott (
The "Good-Enough Mo

Winnicott is every reader s fa
be. Few practitioners could e
poignandy, and emphatically
a pediatrician. (This nourishin
the mystique of psychoanal
analysis, I aim at:

Keeping alive
Keeping well
Keeping awake

I aim at being myself and beh
Spencer Tracy, he knew his li

From Winnicott's perspecti
at an existence which is his an
intimate contact with others.
"At the center of each person
and most worthy of preservati
enced by the external world."

Life begins not with the inf
cial developmental factor bein
between caretaker and fledglin
between the inner world of th
language, she's got to help him
a real self will profoundly affe
experiences. The mother mus
emotional needs of the infant
them. She must respond wh
needed. In such an environme
joys a seemingly omnipotent p
is followed by the mother's pre
all creation and can, through
own satisfactions. Given this
tolerate longer and longer sep
terror of annihilation. Ultima
comes the capacity for concer

E EDUCATION

(1896-1971):
other" of the Year

antasy (with anf) of all that a good mother should
engage the heart and mind of a child so directly,
as this psychoanalyst, who had spent forty years as
ng holds true for grown-up children as well.) As for
lysis, Winnicott once wrote, "In doing psycho­

having myself." Good advice in any ballpark. Like
nes and didn't bump into the furniture.
ive, man's core problem lies in his struggle to arrive
nd his alone but which, at the same time, allows for
Intimacy, however, is an inherently limited affair.
n is an incommunicado element, and this is sacred
ion. This core never communicates with or is influ­

fant but with the infant-mother pair, with the cru­
ng the currents of empathie understanding that flow
ng. It is the responsibility of the former to mediate
he child and the environment about him. In plain
m to feel safe, for whether or not the child develops
ect the nature and state of every problem the adult
t initially be exquisitely attuned to the physical and

as if an invisible band stretched between the two of
hen called and refrain from impinging when not
ent, offered continuous nurturance, the infant en­
position, in which whatever he imagines for himself
esentation of the desired object. H e is the source of

the magic of hallucinating what he wants, will his
sunlit enchantment, he gradually becomes able to
parations from the mother without experiencing the
ately, he develops the capacity to be alone. Later
rn. Concomitantly, the mother awakens from a pe-

riod of "maternal preoccupation" and begins to note
the world continues to function beyond the walls o

Motherhood in this framework of empathie bo
Myriad pitfalls exist, predominantly linked to failu
hallucinatory experiences (need to nurse, be caress
too much interference or overstimulation when t
alone, staring at the ceiling. The mother must be ab
dependency and the aggressiveness that is an inev
process of separation, without becoming overwhe
must also be able to respond to his need to play.

In the worst-case scenario, the infant becomes
needs of others, primarily the mother, and in ord
Winnicott terms a "false self." T h e "false self" conta
rectives of others, while his "true self" becomes di
and protects itself by remaining hidden. The psyc
the parents failed to offer, a holding environment t
responsive, a symbolic re-creation of early mother-ch
tual regression to the patient's early years. And, like
be able to survive the inevitable assaults of the ana
lated. In this safety, the patient's true self can emer

Heinz Kohut (1913-1981):
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Over and over the wheel must be invented. Alth
choanalytic theories overlap, they are promulgated
blown from the heads of their creators, products o
union.

So it is with the concept of empathy, pretty much
Rogers (nondirective counseling) or Franz Alexande
rience). It was viewed then as a surface phenomenon
tic bag of tricks, soothing and supportive but hardly
are made of. But in the last decade, empathy has ha
and respectability by a former president of the Ame
ation, it now gets star billing.

What has created all this furor is the spread of bo

PSYCHOLOGY 443

e with some astonishment that
f the nursery. Bliss has ended.
onding is a hard row to hoe.
ure to respond to the infant's
sed, be comforted, etc.) or to
the child would prefer to be
ble to contain both the child's
vitable accompaniment to the
elmed or fighting back. She

compulsively attuned to the
der to survive, develops what
acts and complies with the di­
issociated, goes underground,
choanalyst must provide what
that is durable, attentive, and
hild interaction but not an ac­
e the "good" mother, he must
lysand without being annihi­
ge.

hough it is obvious that psy­
d as if they have sprung full­
of parthenogenesis and not of

h derided when touted by Carl
er (corrective emotional expe­
n, secondary in the therapeu­
y such stuff as psychoanalyses
ad quite a revival; given clout
erican Psychoanalytic Associ­

orderline and narcissistic per-

444 AN I N C O M P L E T E

sonality disturbances. Moder
rapidly from adoration to abh
more fragmented and eruptiv
psychoanalytic method was d
beyond the pale of insight-or
has been a rush to modify tec
you can hardly find a conferen
the "difficult" patient. Cynics
widen his scope or take dow
of treatment (psychotherapy
medication—not to mention
tensity, duration, and cost of p
was once a highly regarded m
ence lists of medical students.

And so along came Kohu
guished APA) and his "disord
sense of inner cohesion and c
Self Kohut straddled two po
giance to Freud by holding to
that Oedipal issues were cen
roses; on the other, he estab
that allowed him to concen
stages of human evolution. I
man's search became a strugg

With Kohut, we are confro
response, but in this theory, p
fying that the child is not yet
his world. Like Sullivan, but u
experiencing the feeling state
objects interrelate determine
emerge.

What the child requires of
he needs to sense that the sel
are present as continuous, nu
tion, the growing child needs
feel that the self-object that h
though it seems simplistic in l
Kohut sees the self as based on
being admired. Failure to dev
ization, ultimately leads to a d
a consistent sense of self-estee

Thus Self Psychology bega

E EDUCATION

n patients suffer from wounded self-esteem, shift
orrence and from grandiosity to despair, and are far
ve than the hysterics and obsessives for whom the
devised. Until recently, they were considered to be
riented psychoanalytic treatment. But lately there
hnique to embrace this more disturbed population;
nce that does not focus on the problems of treating
s might remark that the psychoanalyst had either to
wn his shingle since the popularity of other forms
, behavior modification, encounter groups, and
step aerobics and video rentals) has made the in­
psychoanalysis far less appealing. Where psychiatry
medical specialty, it is now far down on the prefer­
.
ut (the aforementioned president of the distin­
ders of the self," by which he meant defects in the
continuity. In his 1971 volume The Analysis of the
sitions: On the one hand, he maintained his alle­
o the instinctual drive theory and to the conviction
ntral in tracing the origins of the structural neu­
blished a parallel path of narcissistic development
ntrate on the relationships established in earlier
In the system that Kohut eventually constructed,
gle to develop a cohesive and integrated self.
onted once again with a baby in need of empathie
parental figures are referred to as self-objects, signi­
able to differentiate himself from other objects in
using different terminology, Kohut saw the child as
es of these self-objects. The way that self and self-
s whether a cohesive or a fragmented self will

these self-objects is the mirroring of his capacities;
lf-objects can enjoy his exhibitionistic displays and
urturing, empathie, and respectful figures. In addi­
to be able to idealize at least one of his parents, to
he's tightly tied up with is a swell human being. Al­
light of the complexity of interfamily relationships,
n these two polarities of experience—admiring and
velop at least one aspect, either mirroring or ideal­
defective sense of self and the inability to maintain
em, that is, to narcissistic pathology.
an with an effort to bring the narcissistic disorders

within the purview of psychoanalysis. This wideni
ent set of data, largely concerned with relational iss
of these patients were more primitively organized,
ence and countertransference reactions to deal with
pensed with drive theory, although he waffled quit
system, unlike Freud's and Klein's, does not rest o
Oedipal conflict, the heart of the Freudian matter, i
interaction is a salutary one. Furthermore, Kohut v
in terms of a triad of sexuality, hateful jealousy, and
which the child derives joy from exercising new c
challenges. Where Freud saw Guilty Man who fea
of sexual rivalries, Kohut saw Tragic Man whose a
nihilation.

In working with patients who present narcissist
tially acts as a self-object, providing the empathie r
the patient's early life, and presents him- or hersel
who will allow himself to be, idealized. Like small
mothers, these patients look to their analysts as one
see one's reflection and to bask in a sense of specia
experience themselves as merged with these exalted
cure as long as this bonding is maintained. Growth
riencing a relationship that supplies what the paren
through the power of verbal interpretation. Ultima
flawed and as short-tempered as anyone else, the pa
in a more realistic light and correspondingly sees h
more clearly.

The encouragement of mirroring and idealizing
apart from classical theorists, particularly right-wi
model as far too supportive and nurturant. Althoug
positions resemble Sullivan's (e.g., the emphasis on
one patterns of relationships), his definition of
markedly from that of the Interpersonalists. The la
dress themselves to (and sometimes to trample on) t
clearly visible in the garden, rather than the fragile s
to emerge from the ground.

PSYCHOLOGY 445

ing of the net yielded a differ­
sues and, since the self-systems
, a different series of transfer­
h. Kohut never completely dis­
te a bit on the subject. But his
on a conflict model. Even the
is avoidable if the parent-child
viewed the Oedipal period not

guilt, but as a growth stage in
capacities and mastering new
ars castration as a consequence
anxiety lies in the threat of an­

tic pathology, the analyst ini­
responses that were missing in
lf as a person who can be, and
children preening before their
e looks in a mirror in order to
alness. Or they may adore and
d beings, feeling strong and se­
h occurs largely through expe­
ts failed to supply, rather than
ately, because an analyst is as
atient begins to view the deity
himself and his own capacities

g transferences sets Kohutians
ing Freudians who regard the
gh some of Kohut's theoretical

the self and on early one-on-
f the analytic stance differs
atter are far more likely to ad­
the weeds and flowers that are
shoots that are only beginning

446 AN I N C O M P L E T E

Jacques Lacan (1901-19

W h a t do you do with the Ecr
college French at best and a vo
less} While Lacan's confrères
over such Gallic ticklers as hi
natively, G o d the Father, the
as definer of psychoanalysis),
or the absent father) and its ex
voted female disciples), you,
feeling alienated and perplexe

Reading Lacan requires, a
with Freud, Heidegger, Hege
anthropologists. And that's ju
more. It is disheartening, how
reting out the true meaning of
tinguishing full from empty
since Lacan has emphasized
cure, his theories cannot be tr
to learn the correct application
sion by a member of the Freudia
also need an airplane ticket.

Basic to Lacan's theories i
like a language. What exactly
tention is clearly (and this is th
way. It takes a certain amount
authoritatively define its struc
Any man who can begin the
nutshell" is not going to let yo

To put it in a nutshell, n
desire finds its meaning
cause the other holds the
object of desire is to be r

Through his style, Lacan exp
conundrums inside rebuses, h
Or maybe not.

Lacan highlights the fact, t
tioner, "psychoanalysis has on
believes Freud's greatest contr
is structured and a recognition
process of free association. Bu

E EDUCATION

981): Enfant Terrible

rits of Jacques Lacan when you've got three years of
ocabulary maintained largely from reruns of Breath-

nudge one another in the ribs and roll their eyes
is extended verbal play on "Le Nom du Père" (alter-
father as definer of law, or modestly, Lacan himself
its homophone, "le non du père" (the father's "No!"
xtension, "les nonnes du père" (Lacan's singularly de-
mon pauvre petit, stand outside the charmed circles
ed.
long with your degree in the language, familiarity
l, Sartre, the structural linguists, and the structural
ust to read him. Understanding requires a good deal
wever, after wading through his Stade de Miroir, fer-
f the Other (not at all what you'd suppose), and dis-

speech, to learn from Stuart Schneiderman that
the centrality of the spoken word in the analytic
ransmitted through the written one. "The only way
of Lacan's theories to psychoanalysis is through supervi-
an School of Paris" (italics his). S o it looks like you'll

s his insistence that the unconscious is structured
y Lacan means by this is rather obscure, and his in-
he only clear thing about Lacan) to keep things that
t of chutzpah to take a hypothetical construct and
cture, but Lacan was never famous for diffidence.

following sentence with the phrase "to put it in a
ou off easy:

nowhere does it appear more clearly that man's
g in the desire of the other, not so much be-
e key to the object desired, as because the first
recognized by the other.

plicates his thesis; that is, through enigmas within
he demonstrates the quirkiness of the unconscious.

that regardless of the metapsychology of the practi-
nly a single intermediary: the patient's Word." He
ribution was an understanding of the way language
n that the unconscious can be reached through the
ut for Lacan, the unconscious is the structure hid-

den behind the patient s discourse, since in the proc
ther away from himself. In the act of describing h
longer experience what you are describing. T h e u
be revealed through conscious speech, but can b
"gaps" in discourse: forgetting, misuse of words
dreams, etc. Lacan returns to the Freud o f The Psy
and The Interpretation of Dreams for the bedrock of

More poetically, in the words of a follower:

The unconscious is not the ground which ha
more sparkle and depth to the painted comp
sketch which has been covered over before th
other picture. If we use a comparison of a mu
scious is not the counterpoint of a fugue
melodic line: it is the jazz one hears despite on
quartet when the radio is badly tuned or n
The unconscious is not the message, not eve
message one strives to read on an old parch
written underneath and which must be read by
hind or with the help of a developer.

But what has intrigued Americans about Lacan
tions, which approach incomprehensibility, but h
something of the flavor of a dentist's. Also o f Gra
Lacan the ordered fifty-minute schedule of the mo
tice was of a whimsical character. H e was known
few minutes of idle associations, to extend a sessio
keep a patient hanging around all day if this seemed
tient might be treated with the consulting room
might remain in contact with the other sufferers in
sessions at intervals spread out over the day until his
fend their erratic ways in terms of "logical punctuati
by the needs of any given analysand on any given
hell of a way to run a railroad.

PSYCHOLOGY 447

cess of speaking he moves fur­
how you think or feel, you no
nconscious cannot, therefore,
be tapped into only through
s, slips of the tongue, puns,
ychopathology of Everyday Life
f his theories.

as been prepared to give
position: it is the earlier
he canvas is used for an­
usical order, the uncon­
or the harmonics of a
neself behind the Haydn
not sufficiently selective.
en the strange or coded
hment: // is another text
y illuminating itfrom be­

is not his theoretical formula­
his waiting room, which had
and Central Station. N o t for
odern psychoanalyst; his prac­
to throw a patient out after a
on according to his fancy, or to
d appropriate. A depressed pa­

door open (so that the man
n the corridor) for ten-minute
s despair lifted. Lacanians de­
ions," that is, sessions defined

day. It makes sense, but it's a

448 AN I N C O M P L E T E

CRUMBS FROM
QUOTATIONS
OF S

Analysis almost seems to be
which one can be quite sure o
established, are the bringing-u

I do not think our successes
many more people who believ
existence of the unconscious.

A culture which leaves unsatis
of its members neither has a p

We believe that civilization ha
existence, by sacrifices in gratif

I then made some short obser
the conscious and the unconscio
subject to a process of wearing
unchangeable; and I illustrate
about in my room. They were
their burial had been their pre
ginning now that it had been

In girls the motive for the dem
tion has already had its effect,
the Oedipus complex. Thus th
with in boys: it may be slowly

E EDUCATION

M THE MASTER'S TABLE:
S FROM THE WRITINGS
IGMUND FREUD

e the third of those "impossible professions" in
of unsatisfying results. The other two, much older-
up of children and the government of nations.

Analysis Terminable and Interminable (1937)

can compete with those of Lourdes. There are so
ve in the miracles of the Blessed Virgin than in the

New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (1932)

sfied and drives to rebelliousness so large a number
prospect of continued existence nor deserves it.

Future of an Illusion (1928)

as been built up, under the pressure of the strugglefor
fication of the primitive impulses.
Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (1916-1917)

rvations upon the thepsychological differences between
ous, and upon the fact that everything conscious was
g-away, while what was unconscious was relatively
d my remarks by pointing to the antiques standing
e, in fact, I said, only objects found in a tomb, and
eservation: the destruction of Pompeii was only be­

dug up.
Notes Upon a Case of Obsessional Neurosis (1909)

molition of the Oedipus complex is lacking. Castra­
, which was to force the child into the situation of
he Oedipus complex escapes the fate which it meets
abandoned or dealt with by repression or its effects

may persist far into women's normal mental life
(though I hesitate to give it expression) that for wo
cally normal is different from what it is in men. Th
orable, so impersonal, so independent of its emotio
be in men. Character-traits which critics of every e
women—that they show less sense of justice than m
influenced in their judgments by feelings of aff
would be amply accounted for by the modificati
superego which we have inferred above.

Some Psychical Consequences of the Anatomical

A man who has been the indisputable favorite of
feeling of a conqueror, that confidence of success th

Life and Works of Sigmund Freud,

One might compare the relation of the ego to the
and his horse. The horse provides the locomotor
prerogative of determining the goal and of guiding
ful mount toward it. But all too often in the relation
we find a picture of the less ideal situation in which
his horse in the direction in which it itself wants to

New Introductory Lec

Where id was, there shall ego be.
New Introductory Lec

A woman who is very anxious to get children alway
The Psychopat

Occasionally I have had to admit that the annoying
the street, whereby for some seconds one steps her
same direction as the other person, until finally bo
conceals erotic purposes under the mask of awkwa

The Psychopat

When a member of my family complains that he
bruised her finger, and so on, instead of the expec
tion, "Why did you do that?"

The Psychopat

PSYCHOLOGY 449

e. I cannot evade the notion
omen the level of what is ethi­
heir superego is never so inex­
onal origins as we require it to
epoch have brought up against
men, that they are more often
ection or hostility—all these
on in the formation of their

l Distinction Between the Sexes
(1925)

his mother keeps for life the
hat often induces real success.
vol. 1, by Ernest Jones (1953)

e id with that between a rider
energy, and the rider has the
the movements of his power­
ns between the ego and the id
h the rider is obliged to guide
o go.
ctures on Psychoanalysis (1932)

ctures on Psychoanalysis (1932)

ys reads storks instead of stocks.
thology of Everyday Life (1901)

g, awkward stepping aside on
re and there, yet always in the
oth stop facing each other . . .
rdness.
thology of Everyday Life (1901)

or she has bitten his tongue,
cted sympathy I put the ques­

thology of Everyday Life (1901)

45° AN I N C O M P L E T

FRUITS OF T
FIVE FAMOU

A N N A O.: A compendium o
bia, famous within the profe
ence, the thing that happens
you. Actually, Anna began as
Breuer, who abruptly termina
pecting that the twenty-one
catharsis on the couch. Breu
find her thrashing about in th
with his child. T h e next day,
husband for some extended
"cathartic method" Breuer h
Anna, and Anna herself wen
though no one is quite sure w

L I T T L E H A N S : A five-yea
would bite him. T h e case is
once, and treated the boy by
when Hans was three and a
masturbating by warning him
keep his hands where they b
widdler and then what will y
quite a fascination with widd
had great big widdlers and
horses, Mommy, and the po
fears of competing with his
sured the boy and was eventu
becoming, himself, simultane
What's more, Little Hans gr

D O R A : One of Freud's mos
a teenager in the "first blosso
treatment of various hysteri
made to her by a neighbor, H
an affair with Dora's father. T
K. as a surrogate mother, sinc
bing and cleaning to pay atte
"bring Dora to reason," by
eighteen-year-old, listened t

E EDUCATION

THE MASTER'S LABORS:
US FLIPPED-OUT CASES

of hysterical symptoms from paralysis to hydropho­
ession as a study in the pitfalls of countertransfer-
s when your shrink starts reacting neurotically to
s the patient not of Freud, but of his colleague Josef
ated treatment when his wife became jealous, sus­
e-year-old girl was experiencing more than just
uer was called to Anna's bedside that same night to
he throes of false labor, convinced she was pregnant
, Frau Breuer whisked away her guilty, overinvested
R ôc R in New York. Freud later picked up on the
had been using—more or less successfully—with
nt on to become Germany's first social worker (al­
what that fact has to do with her treatment).

ar-old who wouldn't go out of doors for fear a horse
s remarkable because Freud saw Little Hans only
y proxy through his father. The trouble had started
half and his mother tried to discourage him from
m—as mothers did in those days—that if he didn't
belonged she'd send for the doctor to "cut off your
you widdle with?" Little Hans, who was developing
dlers in general, had not failed to notice that horses

that his mother had none. Before you knew it,
ossibility of castration were all mixed up with his
father. Guided by Freud, Little Hans' father reas­
ually able to help him overcome his phobia, thereby
eously part of the problem and part of the solution.
rew up to be a musician, just like his dad.

st famous cases—and reads like a soap opera. Dora,
om of youth," was sent by her father to Dr. Freud for
ical symptoms linked to a dastardly proposition
Herr K., whose wife, it just so happened, was having
To complicate matters further, Dora looked to Frau
ce her own mother was too preoccupied with scrub­
ention to her family. Dora's father asked Freud to
which he meant keep her quiet. Dora, a spirited
to a lot of talk about her shameful sexual feelings

and none whatsoever about the web of deceit she
weeks of analysis and two famous dreams, she qui
Freud's feelings. Still, much later, he realized he'd l
from the case, namely, that hysterics tended to
dreams and free association and that it paid to mis
tient's "flight into health," a speedy but only tem
early stages of analysis. Dora, on the other hand, g
treatment; she grew up to hate men.

T H E R A T M A N : Not a sci-fi character, head of r
officer who became violently agitated when he hea
an exotic form of punishment in which a pot of ra
naked buttocks and left to gnaw their way through
diately began to imagine this happening to either
loved, and soon he developed a complicated obsess
spite the fact that his father had been dead for sev
was safe at home darning socks. The dénouement
wrong turns by both patient and analyst and a good
word "rat," but eventually Freud helped restore th
him to be killed a year later in World War I. Freud
mechanism of displacement (see page 432) and the
believed underlay most cases of obsessional neurosi

T H E W O L F M A N : A rich young Russian in a s
who could make contact with reality only after he'
intestines with an enema. The case is famous becau
tle but the child within the man and treated the "
pense, some say, of the adult patient. T h e nickna
dream in which the patient opened his eyes to see s
tails like foxes' sitting quite still on the branches o
his window. The deciphering of the dream invo
Daddy busily engaged in a primal scene (Freud's ter
by a child), with intercourse occurring doggie-sty
progress with the Wolf Man, but when the patient
analytic process, Freud fixed a date for terminatio
Resistance crumbled, analysis proceeded apace, and
Russia, ostensibly cured. He returned to Freud a
homeless, and once again a fruitcake, thereby pr
something, too.

PSYCHOLOGY 451

e was caught in. After eleven
t treatment, seriously hurting
learned two important lessons
reveal an awful lot through
strust what he labeled the pa­
mporary improvement in the
ot considerably less out of her

rat, body of man, but an army
ard a fellow officer describing
ats was overturned on a man's
h the anus. The officer imme­
r his father or the woman he
sional system to prevent it, de­
veral years and his lady friend
t of the case involved a lot of
d deal of linguistic play on the
he man to health, in time for
d used the case to illustrate the
sadistic anal eroticism that he
is.

state of complete helplessness
d emptied the contents of his
use Freud concentrated on lit­
"infantile neurosis," at the ex­
ame derives from a childhood
six or seven white wolves with
of a large walnut tree outside
olved catching Mommy and
rm for the sex act as witnessed
yle. Freud made considerable
t became too enamored of the
on: one year, no matter what.
d the Wolf Man went home to
fter the revolution, destitute,
roving that reality counts for

No, we haven't forgotten
more than an offhand p
page 434). O f course, we can
glect, second-bananadom, an
quote your man a little bit, r
word or two about what he s

H e is, happily, almost as q
when you summon him up,
yourself sitting in. The lectur

The more the critical r
becomes; but the more
are capable of making c
valued reason has this in
dominion the individua

The hot-tub Jung sounds mo

Somewhere there was o
King, a Palace, a Lover
Island somewhere in th
the Mystic Flower of th

n you. And yes, you—and Carl Gustav—deserve
aragraph or two in a Freudian's tribute to Freud (see
n't expect to make up here for decades of benign ne­
nd jokes about flying saucers. But we can arrange to
remind you of some of his favorite terms, and say a
tood for.
uotable as Freud, although you can't always be sure,
whether it's a lecture hall or a hot tub you'll find
re-hall Jung sounds something like this:

reason dominates, the more impoverished life
of the unconscious and the more of myth we

conscious, the more of life we integrate. Over­
n common with political absolutism: under its
al is pauperized.

ore like this:

once a Flower, a Stone, a Crystal, a Queen, a
and his Beloved, and this was long ago, on an
he Ocean 5,000 years ago. . . . Such is Love,
he Soul. This is the Center, the Self.

Among the terms Jung came up with: "collec
species-wide layer of the psyche underlying the pers
types" (the mythic images and motifs that go to m
scious); the "complex" (a group of interrelated, an
or images); "individuation" (not so very different
and a process that involves coming to terms w
intuition/sensation axes that together determine th
the pairs "extrovert/introvert" and "anima/animus"
woman-inside-every-man and the man-inside-ever
nation" (by dint of which one writes or paints one'
staple of Jungian analysis); "synchronicity" (a mean
sually unrelated events); and the "Self" (the very ce

If Jung sometimes gets a little trippy, well, that's
To Freud's tight-ass reductionist, always looking fo
thing, always talking about repression, always root
past, Jung is loose-limbed and open-minded, an ex
the spirit, to exploring art, religion, philosophy, and
alchemy to ESP. H e believes in the future (even a
feeling so optimistic about it). And when it does s
think about what's gone before, he's more intere
mythology than as stifling autobiography.

Getting Stra

A CORNUCOPIA OF CURES
AND QUICK FI

Of all the established academic disciplines—the
this book are named—psychology has made t
twenty-first century. For this, there are any num
Let's begin with the dawning of the New Age, in
the state of one's chakras began to count for more t
sion thereof) and the preoccupation with mind-
party to which the former was invited without the
natory but likely to bomb.

Intramurally, too, things got ugly. It didn't help
about childhood sexual abuse, first believing it was
one more unfulfilled fantasy kids have—a conclusio
a country where, increasingly, everybody seemed de
victimhood, on Oprah as in the shower. And, co

PSYCHOLOGY 4SI

ctive unconscious" (the deep,
sonal unconscious) and "arche­
make up the collective uncon­
nd emotionally charged, ideas
t from our self-actualization,
with the thinking/feeling and
he four psychological "types");
(the latter pair alluding to the
ry-woman); the "active imagi­
's unconscious fantasies, and a
ningful coincidence of two ca­
enter of one's being).
one of his endearing qualities.
or a scientific reason for every­
ting about in the muck of the
xpansionist. He's committed to
d borderline phenomena from
at those moments that he isn't
strike him as right to stop and
ested in construing it as rich

aight

S, CRAZES,
IXES

e one for which the chapters of
the rockiest transition into the
mber of possible explanations.
which crystals and runes and
than memories (or the repres­
-body connections made any
latter seem not only discrimi­

that Freud changed his mind
real, then deciding it was just
on that wasn't good for sales in
etermined to cling to his or her
ming after at least a decade's

454 AN I N C O M P L E T E

worth of unflattering media
trayed as pompous, self-righ
Malcolm/Jeffrey Masson mud
phers, for that matter) seem li

Perhaps most important, th
a pill could make you feel bet
mention years') worth of cou
didn't have to pay if you misse

Finally, given that most o
hand-washers that classical an
were narcissists, who didn't re
for a personal trainer, who c
tighter butts?

Nevertheless, psychology w
time that it still behooves us
stein takes a perfecdy unjaun
bankrupt, roster of psychologi

You may already know tha
as much as $200 for as few as
chologists hold doctorates in
social workers hold neither de
insurance; and that there are t
tification whatsoever.

O f course, none of this reall
with psychotherapy in the f
friends? Why must we pay st
crazier than citizens of other

Perhaps it's because the Un
can be dangerous to mental
upon to choose among dozen
tutionally bound to the pursu
alternatives—graduate schoo
process of growing up?

Ironically, psychotherapy is
Greek, means "treatment of th
the-century Vienna (see pag
deemed appropriate mostly fo
the inadequacy of such an abs
determine who was sane for o
for "awareness," "authenticity,"

E EDUCATION

stories in which analysts and therapists were por­
hteous, or downright predatory, the endless Janet
d-slinging contest hardly made shrinks (or biogra­
ike fit companions for people with life problems.
hough, was the widespread realization that popping
tter, and more reliably, than several months' (not to
uch-time. T h e pill cost less, too, and you certainly
ed a day.
f us weren't the hysterics, phobies, or compulsive
nalysis had had its biggest successes in treating, but
espond very well to it anyway, why not opt instead
could pretty much guarantee us firmer thighs and

was such a big deal in this country for such a long
to pay our respects. Here, contributor Helen E p ­
ndiced look at a venerable, if currently somewhat
ical therapies.

at psychiatrists are licensed physicians who charge
s forty-five minutes of their time; that clinical psy­
psychology but are not M.D.'s; that mental-health
egree and often may not be covered by your health
thousands of lay therapists in business with no cer­

ly helps explain why Americans became so obsessed
first place. What's the matter with families and
trangers to pay attention to us? Are we certifiably
nations?
nited States is a free country, and a little freedom
health. Are the French, after all, routinely called
ns of flavors of ice cream? Are the Japanese consti­
it of happiness? Must either consider a panoply of
l, hang-gliding, etc.—to the allegedly inevitable

s a European invention. The word derives from the
he soul," and first achieved prominence in turn-of-
ge 434). Before World War II, therapy had been
or the bona-fide crazies. But the Sixties underlined
olutist point of view: It was increasingly difficult to
one thing, and, for another, there was a new market
" and "self-realization." Psychotherapists obligingly

opened their doors and created new styles, indeed n
over three hundred types of therapy are available in

T h e oldest is psychoanalysis, the "talking cure" d
developed by Sigmund Freud for middle-class Vi
hysteria (page 429). Whether or not you will be
misery into common unhappiness" (as Freud put it
few, and inconclusive, studies of success rates in a
accounts, often disguised as novels, abound. A t fo
(bargain) session for eleven (current average) years
but with inflation, health insurance, and tax ded
considering how well you get to know yourself.

Psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy is psych
who can't take the time and/or won't lie down. In P
the "Dr." an analyst insists on in favor of "Don" or
by your given name. Your sessions may occasional
may not have to pay for sessions you miss; and be
only one or twice a week, you may ask to have them
the lottery and decide to go to Bali.

Instead of allowing you to ramble on uninterrupt
about your emotionally distant mother, the therapi
about what you have/haven't said. POPers have all
on the work of such defectors from the Master as
Harry Stack Sullivan (page 440), Karen Horney, W
Carl Jung (page 452), who either disagreed with F
gether. Like analysts, POPers decorate their offic
white furniture, and innocuous art. Like analyst
hearing you explore that limitless well of material—
occasional items from your daily life and the newspa
or a particularly evocative war) if it has personal ass
to intellectualize as a defense against getting to you
POPers are in general more likely than analysts to t
are using to avoid taking responsibility, such tricks
sisting your therapist, acting out old patterns, and
onto the bus driver. In therapy, you "work it throug

Nor does it have to take eleven years to work it th
a strong push toward short-term dynamic therapy, w
specific goals in an effort to spur the patient's will
anxious about, say, his upcoming wedding, the S T D
only interrupt and guide, he'll also raise questions
e.g., "Is it possible that your mother is jealous of you
your father is secretly furious about your wedding?"
his true feelings, simultaneously relating them to

PSYCHOLOGY 455

new schools. Today, as a result,
n the United States.
iscovered by Josef Breuer and
iennese ladies suffering from

able to transform "hysterical
) can't be predicted. There are
analysis, although first-person
our times per week and $75 a
s, the cost comes to $154,000,
ductions that's not so bad—

hoanalysis adapted for people
POP, your therapist may shed
"Sue," and may even call you
lly run over fifty minutes; you
ecause sessions are scheduled
m changed around if you win

ted (or fall into stony silence)
ist will interrupt you and talk
studied Freud but many draw
Alfred Adler (see page 437),
Wilhelm Reich (page 45), or
Freud or abandoned him alto­
ces with Persian carpets, off-
ts, they will be interested in
—your childhood—as well as
apers (an assassination maybe,
sociations and you don't begin
ur true feelings (see page 432).
ell you exactly what tricks you
s as denying your feelings, re­
projecting your state of mind
gh."
hrough. Lately there has been
which sets firm deadlines and
l to be well. With the patient
D T therapist will typically not
calculated to provoke anxiety,
ur fiancée? Are you afraid that
" Thus encouraged to confront
o past events and working to

solve the problem at hand, a
out" in something like eight
a large hospital or university

Latest wrinkle: brief therapy
achieve "consumer satisfaction
usually no more than ten. "Bri
depression, work stress, grief
that pretty much ignores caus
pointing out that memory is
that solving a problem has a h
sion probably won't cost you m

If at this point it's sounding a
is German for "configuration"
you feel. Developed by Fritz
gone astray) during the 1940s
and Then in favor of the Here
ing, dreaming, assuming, gue
and disparages it. Instead, the
is urged to discover his five se

According to Gestalt, simp
tions is therapeutic. A sessio

a patient can, while still following Freud, "get it all
or nine sessions, usually in the out-patient clinic of
health service.
y, in which "clients" (not analysands or even patients)
n" (not a cure) in as few as one or two sessions, and
ief" therapists tend to concentrate on lesser ills—mild
f—and take a here-and-now approach to problems
sation and childhood in favor of relief and the future,
not necessarily accurate, let alone therapeutic, and
igher priority than ferreting out the root of it. A ses­
more than $100, and is often considerably cheaper.

as if we all think too much, consider Gestalt, which
" and which aims to get around what you say to how
Perls, of Esalen Institute fame (yet another apostle
s, Gestalt dismisses Freud's concern with the There
e and Now. It throws what we lay people call think­
essing, and wishing into one category called Fantasy
e patient (usually called "client" in these precincts)
enses, the key to Perceptual Reality.
ple awareness of one's moment-to-moment sensa­
on involves tuning out the "background" of life and