Main description:

Elizabeth Severn: The 'Evil Genius' of Psychoanalysis chronicles the life and work of Elizabeth Severn, both as one of the most controversial analysands in the history of psychoanalysis, and as a psychoanalyst in her own right. Condemned by Freud as "an evil genius", Freud disapproved of Severn's work and had her influence expelled from the psychoanalytic mainstream. In this book, Rachman draws on years of research into Severn to present a much needed reappraisal of her life and work, as well as her contribution to modern psychoanalysis.

Arnold Rachman's re-discovery, restoration and analysis of the Elizabeth Severn Papers - including previously unpublished interviews, books, brochures and photographs - suggests that, far from a failure, that the analysis of Severn by Ferenczi constitutes one of the great cases in psychoanalysis, one that was responsible a new theory and methodology for the study and treatment of trauma disorder, in which Severn played a pioneering role.

Elizabeth Severn should be of interest to any psychoanalyst looking to glean fresh light on Severn's progressive views on clinical empathy, self-disclosure, countertransference analysis, intersubjectivity and the origins of relational analysis.

Contents:

Chapter Outline

Chapter One: Finding Psychoanalysis: A Personal Journey

Chapter Two: Finding Ferenczi: My Struggle to Build a Bridge from Phenomology and Humanistic Psychotherapy to Relational Analysis

Chapter Three: Finding "R.N." as Elizabeth Severn

Chapter Four: Finding the Elizabeth Severn Papers: An Unknown Legacy of Psychoanalysis

Chapter Five: Eissler Finds Severn: Discovering the Eissler/Severn Interview

Chapter Six: Freud's Condemnation of Severn as an Evil Genius

Chapter Seven: The Practice of Todschweigen - (Death by Silence) - Removal of Severn's Work from Mainstream Psychoanalysis

Chapter Eight: Psychoanalysis of Difficult Cases: Freud's case of The Wolf Man and Ferenczi's Case of R.N.

Chapter Nine: Elizabeth Severn As A Person

Chapter Ten: Severn Finds Ferenczi: From Psychiatric Patient to Analysand to Analytic Partner

Chapter Eleven: Severn As A Clinician

Chapter Twelve: The Development of Trauma Analysis

Chapter Thirteen: Analyzing the Ferenczi/Severn Analaysis

Chapter Fourteen: The Rule of Empathy: Ferenczi and Severn's Contributions

Chapter Fifteen: The "Invitro" Clinical Experiment in Inter-Subjectivity Between Ferenczi and Severn

Chapter Sixteen: The Confusion of Tongues Between Sandor Ferenczi and Elizabeth Severn

Chapter Seventeen: A Two-Person Psychology for Psychoanalysis

Chapter Eighteen: Non-Interpretative Measures in the Analysis of Trauma

Chapter Nineteen: Severn's Trauma of Premature Termination

Chapter Twenty: Severn's Recovery, 1933 - 1959 ("To Work, To Love" (Freud))

Chapter Twenty-One: Severn and Ferenczi's Recovered Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse: An Appraisal

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Development of Therapeutic Regression: Severn, Ferenczi, Balint

Chapter Twenty-Three: Severn's Orpha Function: Resilience and Recovery From Trauma

Chapter Twenty-Four: Ferenczi's Case of R.N., Elizabeth Severn: A Landmark in Psychoanalytic History

Chapter Twenty-Five: Severn As a Psychoanalyst