DOCSLIB.ORG

Otto Rank's Will Therapy

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Otto Rank's Will Therapy Three Otto Rank’s Will Therapy Rank began developing original clinical techniques as early as 1921; and The Development of Psychoanalysis (1923), which he co-authored with Ferenczi, published a portion of his innovations in impeccably Freudian terminology. Freud seems to have been fully abreast of Rank’s innovations, unpublished as well as published, and to have considered them acceptably psychoana- lytic. Following Rank’s break with Freud over The Trauma of Birth, Rank’s work was shunned by the psychoanalytic establishment. Grinker (1940, p. 183) reported, however, that in private conversation Freud “had nothing but good to say about Rank--his imagination and brilliance--but simply stated ‘he was a naughty boy.’” Because Clara Thompson was indebted to Rank, and Thompson analyzed Harry Stack Sullivan, many of Rank’s most impor- tant technical innovations came to be preserved by Sullivan’s school of in- terpersonal psychiatry--even though Sullivan personally participated in Rank’s expulsion from the American Psychoanalytic Association (Lieber- man, 1985, pp. 236-37, 293). At the same time, American ego psychologists called the interpersonalists “Neo-Freudian,” and Rank’s admiration by Carl Rogers and Rollo May (pp. 396-97) did his reputation no good among self- styled Freudians. The rehabilitation of Rank’s reputation and technical in- novations within psychoanalysis awaited the rise in the 1980s of the Ameri- can school of relational psychoanalysis. We are here concerned, however, less with Rank’s technical inno- vations than with original theories that he first published only after break- ing with Freud. Like Burrow, Rank had come to Freud after an enthusiasm for Nietzsche, and he drew on Nietzsche as a resource for the elaboration of his own version of ego psychology. In 1935, Rank went so far as to call Nietzsche “the greatest psychologist of modern times” (Rank, 1996, p. 255). Nietzsche’s metaphysics were mystical. He postulated a chaotic, ever inno- vative, Dionysian “Primal Unity” underlying an equally unified illusion of the Apollonian form, structure, order, and truth of phenomenal reality. The rare individual, the Übermensch or “superman,” critiques the conscious façade and so facilitates a reconnection with primal unity; but instead of being engulfed in its oneness, expresses his own creative individuation. Rank reconceptualized Nietzsche’s metaphysics in developmental terms as a 54 EXPLORATIONS OF THE PSYCHOANALYTIC MYSTICS progression from infantile solipsism to adult creativity. In this way, Rank conceptualized mysticism as a line of ego development that commences with primary narcissism and ends with the individuation of creative adults. Al- though Rank (1927b) scorned “the concept of the Id (Es) which...is just as mystical as the old unconscious” (p. 9), he was no more successful than Freud at eliminating metaphysics from his theories. Appropriating mystical ideas by psychologizing them reductively removes a patina of supernatural- ism while leaving the interior logic of the mystical intact. Another major resource for Rank was the Christian philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard, which was then only beginning to be known outside Denmark. Rank drew selectively on Kierkegaard’s (1980) ideas about the interrelation of con- sciousness, self, moral choice, anxiety, and guilt in order to enrich his analy- sis of the ego. In the process, Rank eliminated the torturous casuistry that Kierkegaard sometimes indulged in rationalization of Christian dogmas. Because Rank opened his diary for 1905 with a quotation from Kierkegaard (Lieberman, 1985, p. 34), we know that his familiarity with Kierkegaard antedated both his meeting with Freud later the same year and Jaspers’s at- tention to Kierkegaard eight years later. THE MYSTICAL CORE OF THE PERSONALITY The better to distinguish his clinical approach from psychoanalysis, Rank came to call it “will therapy.” Rank’s innovations had their basis in several simple but far-reaching corollaries of Freud’s theory. Without using Freud’s term “primary narcissism,” Rank invoked the theory of neonatal solipsism and concluded that a natural, biological urge to mysticism informs much of human culture. Already, in that earliest stage of individualization, the child is not only factually one with the mother but, beyond all that, one with the world, with a Cosmos floating in mystic vapours in which present, past, and future are dissolved. The individual urge to re- store this lost unity is...an essential factor in the production of human cultural values. (Rank, 1932a, p. 113) Rank insisted that he was not simply interpreting the biological through a mystical lens. He suggested that the psychical was incompletely understood biologically. A philosophical approach was a necessary addition (Rank, 1996, p. 228). Rank agreed that the drives that Freud allocated to the id were “su- pra-individual” phenomena that were shared by the human species. Because .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The "Fine Line" of Otto Rank Philip J
    University of Rhode Island DigitalCommons@URI Open Access Dissertations 1994 The "Fine Line" of Otto Rank Philip J. Hecht University of Rhode Island Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss Recommended Citation Hecht, Philip J., "The "Fine Line" of Otto Rank" (1994). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 902. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/902 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@URI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@URI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. l3F / 13 THE "FINE LINE" OF OTTO RANK R.30 H4-3 BY I 3/9lf PHILIP J. HECHT ., A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH 3 2 tJLf;;.../f;).. I UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 1994 ABSTRACT Otto Rank, more than just psychologist, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst, was a compassionate human being. The humanity reflected in his work is the subject of this dissertation and I have shown how his ideas can illuminate historical figures and fictional characters in literature and film. Chapter one examines Rank's "fine line" in order to outline the difficult path that all must travel in life, and some of the methods that are chosen to cope with experience. To Rank, this is a balancing act between acts of creative will and choices influenced by anxiety, guilt, and fear of life and death. Rank claims that the only vital factor in life is the human factor and that human understanding is more important than intellectual knowledge, because it is emotional and cannot be programmed.
    [Show full text]
  • Willin the Psychology of Otto Rank: a Transpersonal Perspective
    WILLIN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF OTTO RANK: A TRANSPERSONAL PERSPECTIVE Jon Amundson Calgary,Alberta,Canada Experience has taught, however, that as the therapist can only heal in his own way, the patient can only become well in his own way, that is, whenever and however he wills, which moreover is already clear through his decision to take treatment and often enough through his ending of it. Otto Rank in Will Therapy Current theory and practice in transpersonal psychology are based upon a variety of historical and contemporary per­ scope of spectives-humanistic (Sutich, 1969),religious-spiritual (Tart, Rank's 1969),csoteric, scientific and socio-cultural (Boucouvalas, trans personal 1980). Similar perspectives can also be found in the work of reflections the early pioneers of modern psychology, primarily in the field of psychoanalysis. In an attempt to formulate comprehensive statements about human experience in the largest sense, the early contributors had to grapple with issues which today would be considered transpersonal in nature. Otto Rank rep­ resents one of those early psychoanalytic theoreticians whose transpersonal reflections are perhaps second only to those of Carl Jung in scope and importance. Rank remains one of the most unknown, and little read, of the early Freudians. Often described as brilliant yet neglected, Rank is in part responsible for his own anonymity. Excused by his biographer (Taft, 1958) as moving too quickly, Rank's attempts at setting forth his ideas are often rambling, ponder- I am grateful to Dr. T, Alan Parry for his kind assistance in the preparation of this paper. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1981, Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • 21.3 Sorensen
    The Shotgun Marriage of Psychological Therapy and the Gospel of Repentance BYU Studies copyright 1981 BYU Studies copyright 1981 The Shotgun Marriage of Psychological Therapy and the Gospel of Repentance A. D. Sorensen Introduction When Elder Neal Maxwell gave the inaugural address that opened this Gospel and Behaviorial Science Conference, I thought he suggested that behavioral science might do well to court the gospel under, of course, the puritanical eyes of proper chaperones. Now I felt that it was about time someone should make this suggestion, since I had seen the two brought together at times quite compromisingly. But then, when Dr. Allen Bergin arose and praised Elder Maxwell’s remarks as he did, I received the distinct impression that the courtship had already occurred, that the gospel and behavioral science, or at least the gospel and psychology, had actually been married by Elder Maxwell, and that without anyone’s being asked whether he cared to protect the marriage! Then, as the day wore on, I began to per- ceive that some participants in the conference seemed assured that the marriage antedated Brother Maxwell and had been consummated long ago. Well, being well acquainted with the profane nature of the groom, I was not surprised at that end, besides, some observers said that we need not worry about offspring from the union since the groom was sterile and had been since he was born. But by the time we were halfway through the last session of the conference, I began to worry lest the bride might already be pregnant and might soon give birth to quintuplets! Therefore, as the last participant in this conference, I would like to express a few of the concerns I have about this whole affair before any possible children from this ques- tionable union are born and are given gospel names and sent on missions among members of the Church.
    [Show full text]
  • Sándor Ferénczi and the Origins of Humanistic Psychology
    ARTÍCULOS SOBRE FERENCZI. CONTEXTUALES E HISTÓRICOS SÁNDOR FERENCZI AND THE ORIGINS OF HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY Dassie Hoffman ABSTRACT This article discusses Sándor Ferenczi’s contributions to the evolution of psychoanalytic theories, and how these ideas were passed through the generations. Ferenczi introduced such concepts as greater activity by the psychotherapist, the need for emotional connection between the therapist and client, the significance of the interpersonal aspects of the therapeutic experience, and the place of empathy within the therapeutic milieu. The second generation reviewed here is the Neo-Freudian, including Andras Angyal, Izette deForest, Erich Fromm, Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, Karen Horney, Harry Stack Sullivan, and Clara Thompson. The next generation reviewed is that of the foremost humanistic psychologists, Abraham Maslow, Rollo May, Carl Rogers, and James Bugental. INTRODUCTION This paper focuses on Sándor Ferenczi’s impact upon the ideas of four co-founders of humanistic psychology. The essay is divided into three sections; the first reviews the origins of psychoanalysis, and the importance of Sándor Ferenczi’s ideas to this process; the second section examines how Ferenczi’s ideas influenced the neo-Freudians, and how this next generation employed his theories; the final section of this essay explores the ways in which the co-founders of humanistic psychology, Abraham Maslow, Rollo May, Carl Rogers, and James Bugental were influenced directly and indirectly byFerenczi. THE IMPORTANCE OF SANDOR FERENCZI TO PSYCHOANALYSIS Humanistic psychology evolved partly as a response to the teachings of psychoanalysis and behaviorism: “Some psychologists... drew upon a long tradition linking psychology with the humanities and in a rebellious manner, institutionally founded humanistic psychology.
    [Show full text]
  • Otto Rank and the Modernist Identity Michael L
    University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2007 "A Woman's Face, or Worse": Otto Rank and the modernist identity Michael L. Shuman University of South Florida Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Scholar Commons Citation Shuman, Michael L., ""A Woman's Face, or Worse": Otto Rank and the modernist identity" (2007). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/2365 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. "A Woman's Face, or Worse": Otto Rank and the Modernist Identity by Michael L. Shuman A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Phillip J. Sipiora, Ph.D. Gaëtan Brulotte, Ph.D. Silvio Gaggi, Ph.D. Richard Wilber, Ed.D. Date of Approval: March 23, 2007 Keywords: lawrence, eliot, yeats, culture, psychoanalysis © Copyright 2007 , Michael L. Shuman Dedication In memory of my Mother Mildred Josephine Shuman who taught me the immeasurable joy of a great book and for my Father Earl Ervin Shuman who showed me the incomparable power of a gentle spirit Live as though you’ll die tomorrow; learn as though you’ll live forever. Acknowledgments My research into the life and work of Otto Rank began nearly forty years ago in the undergraduate classroom of Clarence Wolfshohl, and since then I have tried to follow that great teacher’s lead in exploring both the logic and whimsy of the passionate intellect.
    [Show full text]
  • Definition of Existential Psychotherapy
    1 Existential psychotherapy is a style of therapy that places emphasis on the human condition as a whole. Existential psychotherapy uses a positive approach that applauds human capacities and aspirations while simultaneously acknowledging human limitations.Jul 2, 2015!n!mmExistential Psychotherapy - GoodTherapy.org!www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/.../existential-psychotherapy Related topics!In Austria, Viktor Frankl developed an existential therapy called logotherapy (Frankl, 1964, 1967), which focused particularly on finding meaning. WikipediaExplore! : Viktor Frankl, LogotherapyRollo!! Reece May . was an American existential psychologist. WikipediaExplore! : Rollo MayEmmy!! van Deurzen is a counselling psychologist, psychotherapist and philosopher who is a world authority on existential psychotherapy and who established existential therapy in the United Kingdom. amazon.co.ukExplore! : Emmy van Deurzen Existential therapy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Existential psychotherapy is a philosophical method of therapy that operates on the belief that inner conflict within a person is due to that individual's confrontation with the givens of existence.[1] These givens, as noted by Irvin D. Yalom, are: the inevitability of death, freedom and its attendant responsibility, existential isolation, and finally meaninglessness. These four givens, also referred to as ultimate concerns, form the body of existential psychotherapy and compose the framework in which a therapist conceptualizes a client's problem in order to develop a method of treatment. In the British School of Existential therapy (Cooper, 2003), these givens are seen as predictable tensions and paradoxes of the four dimensions of human existence, the physical, social, personal and spiritual realms (Umwelt, Mitwelt, Eigenwelt and Überwelt). The Viennese School of Existential therapy (Längle, 2003b) describes four fundamental existential dimensions as a structural model of therapy.
    [Show full text]
  • Otto Rank 1884-1939
    This article was originally published in Encyclopedia of Creativity, Second Edition published by Elsevier, and the attached copy is provided by Elsevier for the author's benefit and for the benefit of the author's institution, for non- commercial research and educational use including without limitation use in instruction at your institution, sending it to specific colleagues who you know, and providing a copy to your institution’s administrator. All other uses, reproduction and distribution, including without limitation commercial reprints, selling or licensing copies or access, or posting on open internet sites, your personal or institution’s website or repository, are prohibited. For exceptions, permission may be sought for such use through Elsevier's permissions site at: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/permissionusematerial Wadlington W. (2011) Otto Rank 1884–1939. In: Runco MA, and Pritzker SR (eds.) Encyclopedia of Creativity, Second Edition, vol. 2, pp. 279-285 San Diego: Academic Press. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Author's personal copy R Otto Rank 1884–1939 W Wadlington , Penn State University, University Park, PA, USA ã 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Rank’s Originality He was also fascinated with the newest thinking in psychology by another resident of Vienna, Sigmund Freud, whose book, Otto Rank was a highly original psychologist whose ideas The Interpretation of Dreams, had created a cultural stir. Freud’s continue to influence creativity researchers, psychotherapists, book, and his thought in general, offered a new perspective on organizational theorists, and students of the arts and huma- our psychic lives. Into the intellectual conversation of the time, nities (Figure 1).
    [Show full text]
  • Existential Social Work Donald F. Krill
    Existential Social Work Donald F. Krill Abstract: The existential impact upon social work began in the 1960’s with the emphasis upon freedom, responsibility and a sense of the absurd. It affirmed human potential while faulting the deterministic thinking that was popular with psychological theorists at that time. It was open to the prospects of spirituality, but was less than optimistic concerning great progress among social institutions. It was a forerunner to the strengths-based social work programs of our present day. Keywords: Existential social work, theories of social work practice, social treatment, clinical social work Existential Social Work had its modest entry into social work in the 60s and 70s. Sixteen articles were published by seven different social workers in the late 70s. Three of these authors also published books on the same topic. In his book Social Treatment, James K. Whittaker (1974) declared Existential Social Work as one of the three major theories for social work practice. By 1975 Francis Turner included it as one of fourteen practice approaches in his book Social Work Treatment (1974). Even earlier, in the 50s, existential ideas had surfaced in the Pennsylvania School of Social Work wherein the functional approach stemming from the work of Otto Rank. In his award-winning book, The Denial of Death, Ernest Becker (1973) contrasted Freud with Rank and linked the latter with existential thought. Contrasting social work with the fields of psychiatry and psychology, it would seem that philosophical ideas tend to elude the interest of many social workers who appear more practice minded, politically motivated, or both.
    [Show full text]
  • The Denial of Death Is a Great Book— One of the Few Great Books of the 20Th Or Any Other Cen­ Tury
    “CHALLENGING” “POWERFUL” “MAGNIFICENT” . one of the most challenging books of the decade.. ” — Anatole Broyard, The New York Times “A magnificent psychophilosophical synthesis which ranks among the truly important books of the year. Professor Becker writes with power and brilliant insight . moves unflinchingly toward a masterful articulation of the limita­ tions of psychoanalysis and of reason itself in helping man transcend his conflicting fears of both death and life . his book will be acknowledged as a major work.” — Publishers Weekly . to read it is to know the delight inherent in the un­ folding of a mind grasping at new possibilities and forming a new synthesis. The Denial of Death is a great book— one of the few great books of the 20th or any other cen­ tury. ” —Albuquerque Journal Book Review . a splendidly written book by an erudite and fluent professor. He manifests astonishing insight into the theories of Sigmund Freud, Otto Rank, Soren Kierkegaard, Carl Jung, Erich Fromm, and other giants. Becker has written a powerful book,. ” — Best Sellers “. a brilliant, passionate synthesis of the human sciences which resurrects and revitalizes . the ideas of psycho- philosophical geniuses. The Denial of Death fuses them clearly, beautifully, with amazing concision, into an organic body of theory which attempts nothing less than to explain the possibilities of man’s meaningful, sane sur­ vival. ...” — Minneapolis Tribune . magnificent. not only the culmination but the tri­ umph of Becker’s attempt to create a meaningful 'science of man . a moving, important and necessary work that speaks not only to the social scientists and theologians but to all of us finite creatures.” — Commonweal “BRILLIANT” “ORIGINAL” “PROFOUND” "..
    [Show full text]
  • Otto Rank (1884–1939) [1]
    Published on The Embryo Project Encyclopedia (https://embryo.asu.edu) Otto Rank (1884–1939) [1] By: Keller, Carrie Keywords: Psychoanalysis [2] Trauma [3] Otto Rank [4] Otto Rank studied how birth impacts individuals’ psychology and creates anxiety throughout their lives in Europe and the US during the nineteenth century. In his book The Trauma of Birth, Rank stated that birth was extremely traumatic and that one spent his or her whole life trying to recover from the experience of being born and harshly separated from the peaceful womb [5]. He argued that the trauma experienced at birth is the source of all human suffering and the key to understanding anxiety later in life. He stated that the experience of birth was one’s earliest experience of anxiety, which served as the blueprint for all other anxiety related experiences in life. Through his work, Rank prompted studies in developmental embryology [6] analyzing early mother-child relationships and problems in early psychological development. Rank was born on 22 April 1884 in Vienna, Austria, to Karoline Fleischner and Simon Rosenfeld. According to psychiatry researcher James Lieberman, Rank adopted the last name Rank during his adolescence and officially changed it later in adulthood as a symbol of self-creation. Rank had one older brother whom his parents supported financially throughout his higher education, while Rank received less financial support from his family. When Rank was young, he worked as a locksmith and in a machine shop and engaged in hobbies including writing poetry and reading philosophy and literature. According to scholar Margaret Alic, in 1904, at the age of twenty, Rank experienced suicidal depression, which he overcame through a self- proclaimed spiritual rebirth.
    [Show full text]
  • The "Fine Line" of Otto Rank
    University of Rhode Island DigitalCommons@URI Open Access Dissertations 1994 The "Fine Line" of Otto Rank Philip J. Hecht University of Rhode Island Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss Recommended Citation Hecht, Philip J., "The "Fine Line" of Otto Rank" (1994). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 902. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/902 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@URI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@URI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. l3F / 13 THE "FINE LINE" OF OTTO RANK R.30 H4-3 BY I 3/9lf PHILIP J. HECHT ., A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH 3 2 tJLf;;.../f;).. I UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 1994 ABSTRACT Otto Rank, more than just psychologist, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst, was a compassionate human being. The humanity reflected in his work is the subject of this dissertation and I have shown how his ideas can illuminate historical figures and fictional characters in literature and film. Chapter one examines Rank's "fine line" in order to outline the difficult path that all must travel in life, and some of the methods that are chosen to cope with experience. To Rank, this is a balancing act between acts of creative will and choices influenced by anxiety, guilt, and fear of life and death. Rank claims that the only vital factor in life is the human factor and that human understanding is more important than intellectual knowledge, because it is emotional and cannot be programmed.
    [Show full text]
  • The Trauma of Birth by Otto Rank, a Review
    The Trauma of Birth by Otto Rank, A Review Site Map: MAIN / A Reader's Journal, Vol. 2 Webpage Printer Ready A READER'S JOURNAL The Trauma of Birth by Otto Rank Published by Robert Brunner, NY, in 1952 A Book Review by Bobby Matherne ©1999 Rank lays out his goal for this book in the Preface thus: [page xiii] In attempting to reconstruct for the first time from analytic experiences the to all appearances purely physical birth trauma with its prodigious psychical consequences for the whole development of mankind, we are led to recognize in the birth trauma the ultimate biological basis of the psychical. In my review of Rank's work of over fifty years ago, I will attempt to show how the nascent science of doyletics simplifies our understanding of birth trauma and bypasses the tortuous path of psychoanalysis on the road to achieving an ecology of the psyche. The fundamental tenet of doyletics is that before five years old all novel physical body states (called doyles) are stored for later retrieval. They are stored as memories that are non-cognitive or pre-thought. Once the human brain reaches full-size at three years old, it begins to store cognitive memories for the first time and by five years old cognitive storage has replaced doylic storage of memories. Later tracing of doyles can result in the converting of the doylic memory into cognitive memory with the net effect that upon the presentation of a stimulus that previously triggered a change of physical body state (a doyle), instead of the doyle arising, a cognitive memory is presented to the mind.
    [Show full text]