103: Freud II: Infantile Sexuality and Freud’s Case Histories
Instructors
Michele Press, M.D.
Anne Hoffman, Ph.D.
March 4 – June 10, 2024
Mondays, 8:35 – 10:00 pm
No class: 4/22, 5/27
Course Description
This course begins with discussion with Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, Freud’s radical text on the role of sexuality in human life, with attention to the development of the sexual instinct and its role in neurosogenesis. This reading provides a basis for study of Freud’s case histories, including how Freud built upon his libido theory, but also addressed gaps and contradictions in it. The course follows Freud’s process of ongoing revision and modification of his theoretical understanding. Discussions will include Freud’s discovery of transference, his foreshadowing of the aggressive instinct in his theoretical model, and the interplay of memory, trauma, and fantasy in symptom formation.
In considering these texts and their relevance to contemporary practice, the course also devotes time to Freud as a writer of case narratives that give unique insight into the relationship of doctor and patient. Recognizing the value of his writing as foundational for the field of psychoanalysis, the course also considers how Freud at times unwittingly held up a mirror to his own countertransferences and blind spots. Participants are encouraged to explore the ways in which Freud’s theorizing and clinical work invite later readers, theorists, and practitioners to engage with his writing in ways that continue to revise and amplify his groundbreaking work.
Course Objectives
After attending this course, participants should be able to:
1) define the meaning of the following foundational concepts: libido theory, transference, reality principle, pleasure principle, primal scene, deferred action, complemental series.
2) assess the place of these concepts in contemporary psychoanalytic work.
Evaluation Method
Each student’s participation in class discussion and his or her demonstration of understanding of the course objectives and reading material is assessed in a written evaluation by the instructor(s).
These articles are protected under relevant copyright regulations. They are available in the New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute Electronic Reserve for your convenience, and for your personal use.
READINGS ARE CONFIRMED.
CLASSES 1, 2 & 3: March 4, March 11 & March 18, 2024
Focus on the First Essay for session 1 (pp. 125-172).
Focus on the Second Essay for session 2 (pp. 173-206).
Focus on Summary (pp. 230-242) and the 1923 paper for session 3.
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1905). Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905). The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume VII (1901-1905): A Case of Hysteria, Three Essays on Sexuality and Other Works, 123-246.
Freud, S. (1923). The Infantile Genital Organization (An Interpolation into the Theory of Sexuality). The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XIX (1923-1925): The Ego and the Id and Other Works, 139-146.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Fonagy, P. (2008). A Genuinely Developmental Theory of Sexual Enjoyment and its Implications for Psychoanalytic Technique. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 56(1):11-36.
Person, E.S. (2005). As the Wheel Turns: A Centennial Reflection on Freud’s Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 53(4):1257-1282.
Scarfone, D. (2014). The Three Essays and the Meaning of the Infantile Sexual in Psychoanalysis. Psychoanal Q., 83(2):327-344.
CLASSES 4 & 5: March 25 & April 1, 2024
Focus on the Clinical Picture for session 4 (pp. 15-64).
Focus on the Dream and Postscript for session 5 (pp. 64-96 and 112-122).
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1905). Fragment of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria (1905 [1901]). The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume VII (1901-1905): A Case of Hysteria, Three Essays on Sexuality and Other Works, 1-122.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Marcus, S. (1990[1974]), “Freud and Dora: Story, History, Case History,” Chapter 3 (pp. 56-91) in: In Dora’s Case: Freud, Hysteria, Feminism, 2nd edition. Bernheimer, C. and Kahane, C., eds., Columbia University Press, New York. This is a shortened version of the text first published in Partisan Review (Winter, 1974). The full essay is reprinted in Representations (New York, Random House, 1975), pp. 247-309.
CLASSES 6 & 7: April 8 & 15, 2024
Focus on Introduction and Case History and Analysis for session 6 (pp. 5 – 55)
Focus on Discussion for session 7 (pp. 101 – 147)
REQUIRED READINGS
(1909) Analysis of a phobia in a five-year- old boy (Little Hans) SE X: 3-149
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Blum, H.P. (2007). Little Hans: A Centennial Review and Reconsideration. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 55(3):749-765.
Corbett, K. (2009). Little Hans: Masculinity Foretold. Psychoanal Q., 78(3):733-764.
CLASSES 8 & 9: April 29 & May 6, 2024
Focus on Extracts from the Case History for session 8 (pp. 153 – 200)
Focus on Theoretical for session 9 (pp. 200 – 249)
REQUIRED READINGS
(1909) Notes upon a case of obsessional neurosis (The Rat Man) SE X: 153-249
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Lipton, S.D. (1977). The Advantages of Freud’s Technique as Shown in his Analysis of the Rat Man. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 58:255-273.
CLASS 10: May 13, 2024
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1908). Character and Anal Erotism. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IX (1906-1908): Jensen’s ‘Gradiva’ and Other Works, 167-176.
Freud, S. (1913). The Disposition to Obsessional Neurosis, a Contribution to the Problem of the Choice of Neurosis. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XII (1911-1913): The Case of Schreber, Papers on Technique and Other Works, 311-326.
CLASS 11: May 20, 2024
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1911). Psycho-Analytic Notes on an Autobiographical Account of a Case of Paranoia (Dementia Paranoides). The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XII (1911-1913): The Case of Schreber, Papers on Technique and Other Works, 1-82. (Read pp. 9-34 and 59-79)
Herzog, D. (2000). Psychoanalysis, History, and My Own Private Germany. History and Theory, 39: 67-76.
CLASSES 12 & 13: June 3 & June 10, 2024
Focus on pp. 7-47 for session 12.
Focus on pp. 89-122 for session 13.
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1918). From the History of an Infantile Neurosis. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XVII (1917-1919): An Infantile Neurosis and Other Works, 1-124. (AKA The Wolf-Man)
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Gottlieb, R.M. (2017). Reconstruction in a Two-Person World May Be More about the Present than the Past: Freud and the Wolf Man, an Illustration. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 65(2):305-316.
Soni, N. (2019). On the Continuing Relevance of the Wolf Man to Psychoanalytic Education. Am. Imago, 76(4):543-552.
ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READINGS
Fanon, F. (1967). The Negro and Psychopathology, In Black Skin, White Masks, transl. Charles Lam Markmann. New York: Grove Press. Originally published in France in 1952.
Lane, R.D. (2018). From Reconstruction to Construction: The Power of Corrective Emotional Experiences in Memory Reconsolidation and Enduring Change. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 66(3):507-516.