Personal Reflections of a Psychoanalyst
by Hendrika Freud
Translated by Marjolijn de Jager
Selfpublished: December, 2017
Psychoanalysts seldom become personal. The still active Psychoanalyst Hendrika Freud looks back at her life spanning eight decennial beginning before WWII. The book opens with the war diary of her father János Freud, discoverer of the male hormone testosterone. The author’s personal life and opinions form the essence of this book. Not only her patients’ troubles and dreams are explored, but her own inner life as well. Being an adult and child psychoanalyst confronts her with the vicissitudes of the local and International Psychoanalytic Association, where just like in the outer world, conflict is seldom far away. Besides psychoanalytic insights, creative writers like Marcel Proust, among others, have always been inspirational for the author. This led to a study comparing Proust and Freud on the subject of sadomasochism. This book ends with a look at present day society and the influence of a renewed emphasis on religion and its conflicts.
