Georg Groddeck: “The Pinch of Pepper” of
Psychoanalysis
The life and works of Georg Groddeck are
reviewed and placed in historical context as a physician and a pioneer of psychoanalysis,
psychosomatic medicine, and an epistolary style of writing. His Das Es concept stimulated Freud to construct his tripartite model of
the mind. Groddeck, however, used Das Es to facilitate receptivity to unconsciouscommunication with his patients.
His “maternal turn” transformed his treatment approach from an authoritarian positionto a
dialectical process. Groddeck was a generative influence on the development of Frieda Fromm-Reichmann,
Erich Fromm, and Karen
Horney. He was also the mid-wife of the late-life burst of creativity of
his friend and patient Sándor Ferenczi. Together, Groddeck and Ferenczi
provided the impetus for a paradigm shift in psychoanalysis that
emphasized the maternal transference, child-like creativity, and a
dialogue of the
unconscious that foreshadowed contemporary interest in intersubjectivity and
field theory. They were progenitors of the relational turn and tradition in psychoanalysis.
Growing interest in interpsychic communication and field theory is
bringing about a convergence of theorizing among pluralistic psychoanalytic
schools that date back to 1923 when Freud appropriated Groddeck's Das Es and
radically altered its meaning and use.
Poster, M.F. Hristeva, G. Giefer,
M. (2016). Georg Groddeck: “The Pinch of Pepper” of Psychoanalysis. Am. J.
Psychoanal., 76(2):161-182.
