From Psychical treatment to psychoanalysis: considerations on the misdating of an early Freud text and on a hitherto overlooked addition to it (here reproduced).

Full Abstract

Freud's early paper Psychical (or mental) treatment, first published in a family reference book for educated lay persons, was reproduced in the Gesammelte Werke with a stated publication date of 1905. This date was subsequently called into question owing to certain parts of the subject-matter (the use of hypnosis and suggestion in 'mental treatment'), and the contribution was erroneously assigned, for instance by James Strachey, to the year 1890. This error is corrected in the present paper. Furthermore, the existence of a second edition of this reference book, which contains an addition to Freud's text and appeared in 1918-19, has previously gone unnoticed. The first edition had been published in 1905-6. Freud's contribution must, however, have been written at an appreciably earlier date. The probable time of its genesis is discussed. Freud's new text is reproduced (in English translation) for the first time in an appendix to this paper.

Author information

Author/s: Fichtner, Gerhard (G);

Affiliation: Institut für Ethik und Geschichte der Medizin, Goethestr. 6, 72076 Tübingen, Germany. gerhard.fichtner(-atsign-)uni-tuebingen.de

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Biography; Historical Article; Journal Article

Journal: The International journal of psycho-analysis (Int J Psychoanal), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Aug; vol 89 (issue 4) : pp 827-43

Dates: Created 2008/09/25; Completed 2009/01/09;

PMID: 18816344, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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