[.ca] A Most Dangerous Method: The Story of Jung, Freud, and ... (ISBN 0679735801)

human, all too human:
Isn't it strange that although this well-researched and readable book has been out ten years now, not a single analyst, Jungian or Freudian, has reviewed it here? During my training as a depth psychologist I heard and read a lot about the Freud-Jung relationship, about its shattering on the rocks of politicking and father complexes, and a bit about the unfortunate Sabina Spielrein, one-time patient of Jung. At this point nobody in the field is shocked to hear about the Founding Fathers having sex with their patients, however inappropriate or damaging it may have been (Freud seems to have been a rare exception to this kind of acting out). What's troubling to read in this book is not so much Jung's having an affair with Spielrein--harmful enough all by itself--but the casual brutality in how he handled it: the resumption of it after she had attacked him and asked Freud for help, Jung's lame excuses for dropping her (even telling her at one point that he'd displaced an attraction to Freud's daughter onto Sabina--how nice), the coldness of his self-justification to Sabina's mother when she found out via letter from Emma Jung (basically: no fee was charged, so it wasn't really that bad--but if you wish to discuss it, that'll be ten francs an hour).... The shocking, manipulative sadism of Jung's repeated betrayals of Spielrein might make difficult reading for those who revere him, even granting that they took place before Jung's "confrontation with the unconscious." The book also sheds light on the human background of Jung's theories about the anima. Plenty here for feminist critics. Kerr also makes a convincing case for Freud's affair with his sister-in-law Minna, although this reader is not entirely sold on it (allow me to keep at least one post-doctoral illusion!). The affair matters because of Kerr's claim that Jung and Freud indulged in implied threats of mutual sexual blackmail toward the end of their correspondence (I won't show them yours if you don't show them mine). I can see after reading this book why some of Jung's late letters to Freud alternate between aggression and what seems like paranoia. For six years I ran men's groups and often noticed that clients with a guilty conscience, especially about having had affairs, lived in the constant fear that someone would tell their current partner about it. Some of what Jung wrote to Freud is consistent with a man who knows his lover (Spielrein) has sent a full confession to a friend and colleague (Freud) but does NOT know just how full a confession it was. Jung's chronic uncertainty about what Freud did or did not know must have added tremendous stress to the ongoing battle of wills and egos. But the submergence of the gifted if borderline-prone Spielrein is the real tragedy in this unamusing comedy of errors. This book is not only interesting reading, but a good history of psychoanalysis and its pioneers--very handy for a psychology course. Includes an index, an extensive bibliography, and a handy bibliographic essay explaining just where the author got what, and why.

A Most Dangerous Method:
For a very solid piece of research, the book is a surprisingly easy read and gripping. Beneath the text, the author subtly raises important social questions for our times. Reflected through the personal histories and theories of Freud, Jung, and Spielrein, Kerr reveals both what was novel and liberating in psychoanalysis (the centrality of sexuality) and what was constricting to the three of them (the practical need to be preoccupied with themselves and their various careers). In this, he raises a very contemporary issue: though love remains desired by all, it is deeply problematical in the face of our culture's particular need for self-preservation.