NEO-FREUDIANS: Harry Stack-Sullivan (Lecture Series-2)
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1 NEO-FREUDIANS: Harry Stack-Sullivan (Lecture Series-2) B.A. Ist (Honors) (Paper-IVth : Systems in Psychology) By Dr. Masaud Ansari Department of Psychology, A.P.S.M. College, Barauni L. N. M. University, Darbhanga 22nd OCTOBER 2020 2 Neo-Freudian’s view Freud’s writings were controversial, but they soon attracted followers, mostly young, ambitious physicians who formed an inner circle around their strong minded leader. These pioneering psychoanalysts, whom we often call neo- Freudians, accepted Freud’s basic ideas: the personality structures of id, ego, and superego; the importance of the unconscious; the shaping of personality in childhood; and the dynamics of anxiety and the defense mechanisms. But they broke off from Freud in two important ways. First, they placed more emphasis on the conscious mind’s role in interpreting experience and in coping with the environment. And second, they doubted that sex and aggression were all - consuming motivations. Instead, they tended to emphasize loftier motives and social interactions. 3 Neo-Freudian Neo-Freudian referring to modifications, extensions, or revisions of Freud’s original psychoanalytic theory, most commonly to those that emphasize social, cultural and interpersonal elements rather than innate biological instincts such as sexuality and aggressio. Major theorists described as neo-Freudian are 1. Alfred Adler (1870-1937) 2. Karen Horney (1885-1952) 3. Erich Seligmann Fromm (1900-1980) 4. Harry Stack-Sullivan (1892-1943) 5. Erik Homburger Erikson (1902 –1994) 4 Neo-Freudian’s major Disagreements with Freud 1. Socio-cultural factors determine conflicts, not instincts. 2. Infantile sexuality is of little importance compared to socio-cultural factors. Conflicts can be or are predominantly non-sexual. 3. Societal factors cause anxiety, not a defense. 4. Dream have no latent content: could be metaphorical expressions of the patient’s real concern or reflect struggles to achieve self-awareness and responsibility. 5. Oedipal complex has no sexual component, is due to interpersonal/social factors. 6. Techniques of treatment: normally emphasize ‘here and now’, de-emphasis on past, gaining insight etc. 5 Neo-Freudian’s views 1. The social and cultural, rather than biological factors are basic to the understanding of the human nature. 2. The Oedipus complex, the formation of superego and alleged inferiorities are cultural though there may be a biological foundation for oral and anal stage, it can be modified by cultural factors. 3. Emphasis is placed on ‘interpersonal relationship’ in the formation of character and the production of anxiety. 4. It is not the sexual behaviour that determines character but the character determines the sexual behaviour. 6 Contribution of neo-Freudians There are five major contributors of neo-Freudian period of psychology: 1. Alfred Adler 2. Karen Horney 3. Erich Fromm 4. Harry Stack-Sullivan 5. Erik Homburger Erikson Here we will discuss only one neo-Freudian’s contribution i.e. Harry Stack-Sullivan’s contribution while rest of the psychologists will be discussed later… 7 4. Harry Stack Sullivan (1892-1943) Sullivan was an American Neo-Freudian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who held that "personality can never be isolated from the complex interpersonal relationships in which a person lives" and that “the field of psychiatry is the field of interpersonal relations under any and all circumstances in which such relations exist” (Sullivan, 1947). Having studied therapists Sigmund Freud, Adolf Meyer, and William Alanson White, he devoted years of clinical and research work to helping people with psychotic illness. Sullivan was a child of Irish immigrants and grew up in the then anti-Catholic town of Norwich, New York, resulting in a social isolation which may have inspired his later interest in psychiatry. He attended the Smyrna Union School, then spent two years at Cornell University from 1909, receiving his medical degree in Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery in 1917. 8 Contribution of Sullivan Along with Clara Thompson, Karen Horney, Erich Fromm, Otto Allen Will, Erik H. Erikson, and Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, Sullivan laid the groundwork for understanding the individual based on the network of relationships in which they are trapped. He developed a theory of psychiatry based on interpersonal relationships (Rioch, 1985) where cultural forces are largely responsible for mental illnesses. In his words, one must pay attention to the "interactional", not the "intrapsychic". This search for satisfaction via personal involvement with others led Sullivan to characterize loneliness as the most painful of human experiences. He also extended the Freudian psychoanalysis to the treatment of patients with severe mental disorders, particularly schizophrenia (a disorder that affects a person’s ability to think, feel and behave clearly). 9 Conti… Sullivan defined the Self-System as a steering (direction) mechanism toward a series of I-You interlocking behaviors; that is, what an individual does is meant to elicit (cause) a particular reaction. Sullivan called these behaviors Parataxical Integrations and he noted that such action-reaction combinations can become rigid and dominate an adult's thinking pattern, limiting their actions and reactions toward the world as the adult sees the world and not as it really is. The resulting inaccuracies in judgment Sullivan termed parataxic distortion, when other persons are perceived or evaluated based on the patterns of previous experience, similar to Freud's notion of transference. Sullivan also introduced the concept of "prototaxic communication" as a more primitive, needy, infantile form of psychic interchange and of "syntactic communication" as a mature style of emotional interaction. 10 Conti… Sullivan was the first to coin the term "problems in living" to describe the difficulties with self and others experienced by those with mental illnesses. This phrase was later picked up and popularized by Thomas Szasz, whose work was a foundational resource for the antipsychiatry movement. "Problems in living" went on to become the movement's preferred way to refer to the manifestations of mental disturbances. Sullivan was one of the founders of the William Alanson White Institute, considered by many to be the world's leading independent psychoanalytic institute, and of the Journal Psychiatry in 1937. He headed the Washington, DC School of Psychiatry from 1936 to 1947. 11 Sullivan’s major contribution The following works are in Special Collections (MSA SC 5547) at the Maryland State Archives in Annapolis: i. Conceptions of Modern Psychiatry, ii. Sound scriber Transcriptions (Feb. 1945-May 1945); iii. Lectures 1-97 (begins Oct. 2, 1942); iv. Georgetown University Medical School Lectures (1939); v. Personal Psychopathology (1929–1933); vi. The Psychiatry of Character and its Deviations-undated notes. 12 Sullivan’s major contribution His writings include: 1. The Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry (1953) 2. "The Psychiatric Interview" (1954) 3. Conceptions of Modern Psychiatry (1947/1966) 4. Schizophrenia as a Human Process (1962) 13.