Principles of Intensive Psychotherapy (Phoenix Books)
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"This book has a wealth of clinical and technical detai...)
"This book has a wealth of clinical and technical detail. As a primer on psychotherapeutic technique this book will. . .bring knowledge and stimulation to the most advanced technician"—Karl A. Menninger
"One is continuously aware that here is a truly human being at work, human in the sense of exquisite awareness, on a profoundly intuitive level, of the workings of the human totality. . . . Because of this she can bridge the vast divide that separates us from the psychotic . . . thereby gaining access to the process of recalling the patient to his lost domain."—Louise E. DeRosis, M.D., American Journal of Psychoanalysis
(dr. fromm-reichmann was welll known for her observation o...)
dr. fromm-reichmann was welll known for her observation on schizophrenic tought processes, and one group of papers reveals her insight into the inner world of the psychotic
Frieda Fromm-Reichmann was a German psychiatrist and contemporary of Sigmund Freud who emigrated to America during World War II.
Background
She was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, the daughter of Adolf Reichmann, an Orthodox Jewish merchant, and Klara Simon. She grew up in Koenigsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad R. S. F. S. R. ), where her father had become a bank director. The Reichmann family was close-knit. Much was expected of the children, and careful attention was paid to both the ethical precepts and formal practice of Orthodox Judaism.
The spirited, progressive Klara Simon was the dominant figure in the household and a major force in Fromm-Reichmann's life. It was her gentle, kindly father, however, who insisted that she study medicine rather than languages, which were a major interest. He argued that medicine offered better opportunities at a time when there was considerable job discrimination against Jews.
Education
Fromm-Reichmann's preparation for university entrance had taken place privately; girls were not yet permitted to attend German high schools (Gymnasiums).
When she entered the medical school of the Albertus University in 1908, this diminutive young woman, who stood little more than four feet, ten inches tall, was a pioneer in a field still completely dominated by men.
Early in her studies, Fromm-Reichmann became aware of her gift for communicating with severely disturbed mental patients. After completing medical school in 1913, she engaged in postgraduate studies in neurology and psychiatry under Kurt Goldstein, who was one of the major influences on her professional development. She studied brain physiology and pathology and became interested in the emotional effects of brain injuries. A number of scientific papers resulted from her collaboration with Goldstein. World War I created new opportunities for talented women.
In 1916 Goldstein chose Fromm-Reichmann to organize and manage a 100-bed hospital for brain-injured soldiers. After the war, she followed Goldstein to Frankfurt am Main for two additional years of study.
Career
In 1920 she began a four-year period on the psychiatric staff of the Sanatorium Weisser Hirsch in a Dresden suburb. It was during this time that she first became familiar with the writings of Sigmund Freud and began psychoanalytic training, first with a Dr. Wittenberg in Munich, later with Hanns Sachs in Berlin.
Fromm-Reichmann's encounter with the psychoanalytic movement was a turning point in her life. She became so enthusiastic about this revolutionary new method that she believed for several years that it could not only alleviate individual human suffering, but might also become a tool for social change. With Erich Fromm she opened a progressive psychoanalytic sanatorium in Heidelberg in 1924.
After the closing in 1928 of the sanatorium, which had drained her energies and remained financially unsuccessful, Fromm-Reichmann concentrated on the full practice and teaching of psychoanalysis.
In 1933 the threat of Nazi persecution caused her to flee to Strasbourg, France, where she was joined by many of her analytic patients. From France she went briefly to Palestine. She then migrated to the United States, arriving in April 1935. By June, she was working at Chestnut Lodge, a private, psychoanalytically oriented psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Washington, D. C. Here the director, Dexter Bullard, Sr. , provided a sympathetic environment.
She was to remain on his staff for the rest of her life. During the late 1930's and throughout the 1940's, Reichmann became closely associated with Harry Stack Sullivan, who shared her interest in the treatment of psychotic patients. Both developed a growing understanding of the importance of interpersonal factors on the behavior of the mentally ill. The Washington School of Psychiatry of the William Alanson White Foundation became a forum for the dissemination of their ideas. In spite of her charm and vivaciousness, Fromm-Reichmann maintained considerable reserve. She found it difficult to lean on others.
Her personal life was overshadowed by the demands of her profession. Few of her friends knew how large a share of her income and energies was devoted to helping family members, friends, and strangers who were victims of fascism in Europe. Although her last years were troubled by increasingly poor hearing, a hereditary ailment, she continued to make extraordinary demands on herself, working simultaneously as therapist, administrator, teacher, lecturer, and author of scientific papers.
Joanne Greenberg's autobiographical novel, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1964), portrays Fromm-Reichmann in the character of Dr. Fried and captures vividly her respectful and sensitive approach.
Quotations:
She is described as one of the few notable exceptions to Freud's maxim of charging for missed appointments:'"I feel that it is not the psychiatrist's privilege to be exempt from the generally accepted custom of our culture in which one is not paid for services not rendered", she wrote in her book Principles of Intensive Psychotherapy'.
Personality
Fromm-Reichmann's extraordinary empathic gifts enabled her to unlock many aspects of schizophrenic communication, both verbal and nonverbal.
Connections
She married Fromm in 1926.
He was almost eleven years her junior. The couple had no children. Their life together ended in the early thirties, although they were not divorced until 1942 and remained thereafter on friendly terms.