Delve Into Freud And His Followers Written By Paul Roazen Compiled As Bound Copy

the part called "freudian Harem", . . was good and intersting. This book is a treasure trove of information about Freud and his early followers, Roazen who had already published two previous works on Freud interviewedof Freud's former patients, colleagues and family members in order to obtain an inside perspective on Freud.
These interviews, combined with a thorough knowledge of Freud's writings, lend an unusual candor to Roazen's account, As a consequence, Roazen's book was not only highly insightful, it was often quite literally jaw dropping, After taking more thanpages of notes from my borrowed copy, I realized I was simply going to have to purchase this booka decision I have not regretted, as I refer to it almost daily.


Freud had a strong pull on the members of his coterie, He could rightly be called a charismatic figure, even a cult leader, Critics of his own time, and ours, have compared psychoanalysis to a "cult"and with good reason, Freud's personality was so powerful that to this day his detractors are met with the full force of religious outrage.
During Freud's lifetime, those who left his circle could only do so through "excommunication" or death suicide, How did this man manage to sway so many otherwise intelligent people, and so completely

Although Roazen holds the view that Freud was a genius, the portrait he paints, often unwittingly, is that of a man who sought total control over his followers.
According to those who knew him best, Freud demanded "all or nothing" from his friends, colleagues, and even his family.
When his fiancée, Martha Bernays, made living arrangements to accommodate her mother, Freud wrote, "If that is so, you are my enemy.
. . You have only an EitherOr, " This "eitheror" attitude permeated all of Freud's relationships, When he mentored young psychoanalysts, they were his "sons" until they showed some independence of thought, Then they rapidly became his enemies, apostates for whom he retained a lasting hatred, Not surprisingly, his followers took up Freud's behavior with relish, ejecting, excommunicating and putting on public "trial" those colleagues who dared question the absolute truth of Freud's findings.
They became zealots, not scientists,

Of course, it was Freud, not his followers, who started the myth that psychoanalysis was a science.
In spite of the fact that he himself never followed the methods that he so convincingly described, Freud's thoughts, writings, and psychoanalytic utterances rapidly became dogma.
"Do as I say, not as I do," was the operating principle behind Freud's teachings, His "discoveries" were no more scientific, as the majority of them were derived from Freud's "selfanalysis, " Even at the time, psychiatrists questioned the validity of Freud's socalled discoveries, declaring them to be nothing more than the speculations of an overactive imagination.
It was only through the singleminded efforts of Freud, the fanatical devotion of his followers, and the publicity provided by Freud's nephew, Edward Bernays who was one of the most influential men in the United States, and the father of PR that psychoanalysis survived at all.


Not only did it survive, it flourished, becoming a virtual fad for the rich and famous.
Among those whom Freud and his disciples analyzed were Gustav Mahler, Marilyn Monroe and Anais Nin, who, like many former patients, eventually became an analyst herself.
At the height of their popularity analysts consorted, both literally and figuratively, with the literati of Europe, becoming an integral part of the "zeitgeist" of the earlyth century.
They also consorted with each other, It was not unusual for analysts to have affairs with their patients who, in turn, became analysts, In fact, Freud put his seal on approval on several such relationships, What better way to recruit a follower than sex Initially, I found it surprising that Freud would have interfered so blatantly in the private lives of his patients, but this was a man who referred to psychoanalysis as his "Empire" and compared himself to Napoleon.
Acting in the best interests of his patients was clearly not a priority,

If you want to understand Freud as a man, this book is essential reading, Nothing will give you a clearer picture of who Freud was, and who his followers were, The irony is that Roazen, himself a Freudian, although not a psychologist, painted such a devastating picture of a man he so admired.
Of course, one does have to read between the lines, Much of Roazen's commentary reflects an almost touching credulity, It requires someone of extraordinary gullibility to be taken in by Freud's "memories" of his sexual, emotional and religious life at the ripe old age of two.
But in the end, we have Roazen's commitment to good scholarship to thank for this fascinating study, Unlike Freud, Roazen did not skew his data in order to validate his presuppositions, This was in fact a remarkable book, The detail was so compelling that it draws you in, It makes one sigh a bit of relief that one is not living in such restricted circles of belief.
It is indeed an important contribution to the story of Freud and His Followers, If you read carefully, you will see that the subject is not exhausted and that there is more to say about individual analysts and their differences in Treatment, philosophy and practice.
Paul Roazen's classic study of Sigmund Freud amp his complex relationships with the men amp women who formed his circle is widely recognized as the best portrait of Freud amp his world.
It focuses as much on the human dramas involved as on the ideas the participants developed, .