NYT: "Sophie Freud, Critic of Her Grandfather’s Gospel, Dies at 97"

[Pyrrhus]

From the New York Times:

Sophie Freud, Critic of Her Grandfather’s Gospel, Dies at 97
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/03/science/sophie-freud-dead.html (behind paywall )

As a German-Jew, I found this article quite cathartic. There are German-Jews that I can be proud of, such as Felix Mendelssohn, Albert Einstein, and Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

Then there are German-Jews that I am profoundly ashamed of, such as Henry Kissinger, Sigmund Freud and Simon Wessely. (For the record, what Sigmund Freud did to patients was far worse than anything Simon Wessely ever did!)

Excerpt:

Sigmund Freud’s last surviving grandchild, she fled the Nazis in Vienna, became a professor in America and argued that psychoanalysis was a “narcissistic indulgence.”

Sophie Freud, who fled the Nazi onslaught in Europe and escaped to the United States, where, as a professor and psychiatric social worker, she challenged the therapeutic foundation of her grandfather Sigmund’s theories of psychoanalysis, died on Friday at her home in Lincoln, Mass. The last surviving grandchild of Sigmund Freud, she was 97.
[...]
Professor Freud, who taught psychology at Simmons College (now Simmons University) in Boston, devoted her career as a psychosociologist to the protection of children and to introducing feminism into the field of social work.
[...]
“I’m very skeptical about much of psychoanalysis,” she told The Boston Globe in 2002. “I think it’s such a narcissistic indulgence that I cannot believe in it.”

 

[lenora]

Psychoanalysis here (in the U.S.) is time consuming and cost a lot of money. Most people that I know who go to psychiatrists, use them for a certain thing only. One would probably find analysis more in a university setting, although perhaps not even there today.

Most psychiatrists simply try to figure out the part of the brain involved and advise about the right medication or will refer a patient for cognitive thinking help (as an example, only) Psychologists provide excellent counseling (if you find the one who is right for you), tests help them cut down on the no. of visits and problems are solved a lot more easily. Family therapy (b/c often the problem isn't the person seeking help) is becoming very popular as many things are family problems. It's a safe environment for people to be open with each other.

We then move to therapists or counselors on just a particular problem. I agree that psychoanalysis has going more and more out of favor....but don't most things? My psychologist recommends books for me to read or will lend them to me knowing they'll be returned. Most of the time, I agree with a certain view, other times I don't. Again....it's a good choice. We all have problems, why not make life easier and matter more if we can? Just my thoughts, that's all.

Sometimes there isn't a good fit between patient/psychiatrists, whichever is needed. Unfortunately it's expensive, but it does pay to find someone we can feel open with. Hiding things only makes the counseling more extensive, thus more expensive. Sometimes a visit or two will solve the problem after both patient and counselor get to know each other. Some people use members of their church for counseling....it's all up to you. It's also up to you if you choose not to do it.

At least he started a field.....it did lead to questioning and many things tumbled out of memories long forgotten. I know my biological family benefited enormously (some members). It kept them on track and out of state mental hospitals. The proper medications were given. Who knows what the future will hold in the way of diagnostics for many people. Family lives were better and that included those around them.

I use it when necessary, my husband does (and he was a total non-believer), and now my children have had it for their own problems. It can lift problems by making them clearer and easier to solve. What they do is their concern, so I never even ask questions, they volunteer what they want.

Yes, I understand that it has severely hurt the people of the UK, and for that I'm sorry. I hope that views will change. Yours, Lenora.