Education
Karl Abraham completed his medical studies in 1901.
Karl Abraham completed his medical studies in 1901.
In 1905 Karl Abraham began work as a psychiatrist at the famed Burgholzi clinic in Zurich, where he came into contact with C. G. Jung and Eugen Bleuler.
In 1907 he met Sigmund Freud and soon became a member of his inner circle.
He analyzed many of the leading early analysts — Theodor Reik, Melanie Klein, Sandor Rado. Helene Deutsch, and others.
His experience with severely ill, hospitalized psychiatric patients afforded him the opportunity to extend psychoanalytic theory to manic-depression and schizophrenia. He elaborated upon the phases of infant sexuality posited by Freud —oral, anal, and genital —and he hypothesized that fixations at early stages of development can produce severe psychiatric illness. A milestone in the child’s development is the ability to experience ambivalence — a sense that the parent may contain both good and bad qualities. This was in effect an early recognition of the complexity of people and relationships.
Abraham interpreted myths and fairy tales in a psychoanalytic light. In a trenchant analysis of war and totem festivals, he noted that in both community action provides sanction for what the individual would never be permitted to do alone.
Abraham’s observations made while working with soldiers during World War I enriched the understanding of psychological reactions to the stress of war.
Karl Abraham is remembered as a kind, even-tempered, and optimistic man, with a sharp, critical eye.