Revision of Psychoanalysis by Erich Fromm

Author:Erich Fromm [Fromm, Erich]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4804-0197-6
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2013-01-17T19:57:00+00:00

b) Transtherapeutic Aspects of Psychoanalysis

Let me add one final but extremely important point in regard to the revision of the theory and practice of psychoanalytic therapy, which, as I have pointed out, started out as a method to cure neurotic illness in the traditional meaning of the word. It then proceeded to treat the “neurotic character”—that is, a character system that was considered sick, although it did not have conventional symptoms. More and more, psychoanalysis was sought by people who were unhappy and dissatisfied with their lives, by people who felt anxious, empty, and without joy. Although the reason for their treatment was “rationalized” in the traditional terms of being cured of chronic illness, the fact was that many were seeking a higher degree of well-being. They wanted to “express their potentialities,” to be able to love fully, to overcome their narcissism or their hostility; and even if they did not come to the analyst with a clear awareness of these goals, it soon became evident that this was the real reason for their seeking analytic help.

What is a “therapy” whose gain is greater joy and vitality, greater awareness of self and others, greater capacity to love, greater independence and freedom to be oneself. It is, indeed, no longer a “therapy”—at least not in the traditional sense of the word—but a method for human growth, a “therapy of the soul,” as in the literal translation of psychotherapy.

In this type of psychoanalysis, personal problems, like insomnia, or unhappy relations with spouse or children are looked upon not as the final problems to be solved but as indications of a generally unsatisfactory state of existence. It becomes clear, in fact, that none of these “problems” can really be solved unless a radical change takes place in the whole person.

Something else becomes clear, too. No change in state of mind and experience is possible unless it is accompanied by a change in one’s practice of life. To give a simple example: If a son fixated to his mother has become aware of this fixation and its roots, the awareness in itself will not become effective unless the son changes those practices in his life that are expressions of, and simultaneously feed, this fixation. The same holds true for a man who holds a job that forces him into continuous submission and/or insincerity. No insight will work unless he gives up this job, even if material or other sacrifices result. It is precisely this necessity to make certain relevant painful changes in one’s practice of life that makes success in therapy so difficult.

Psychoanalysis as a “therapy of the soul” has by no means superseded its older role as a therapy against illness. A number of therapeutic methods have been found that can cure certain symptoms more adequately and/or more quickly than psychoanalysis, but many pathological manifestations remain, from mild to severe, for which psychoanalysis is the only available form of therapy. (Even the fact that certain forms of mental illness are cured only in

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