The lost legacy of Franz Alexander
Phoenix Publishing House (Verlag)
978-1-80013-276-4 (ISBN)
Franz Alexander began his psychoanalytic career in 1920s Berlin at the vanguard of the psychoanalytic movement. He won the admiration of Freud who praised him as “extraordinarily good” and “one of our strongest hopes for the future”. He later moved to the US and was a pivotal figure in American psychoanalysis, but his work moved into obscurity following disagreements with other key figures in the field. Fast forward to today and many of Alexander’s methods have become common practice in psychotherapeutic treatment. His granddaughter, Ilonka Venier Alexander, is determined to bring his contributions to the attention of a whole new generation unfamiliar with this early titan of the field.
In order to bring the work of Franz Alexander to as wide an audience as possible, this book is written in an engaging style to pique the interest of students, practitioners, and academics, including those unfamiliar with psychoanalysis. Topics discussed include juvenile delinquency and criminology; the mind–body connection and the concept of psychosomatic medicine; the use of evidence-based research to measure the effectiveness of psychotherapy and other treatments; the corrective emotional experience; and short-term and flexible treatment in psychoanalysis. The latter two rank among the most controversial of his theories, yet they have stood the test of time and demonstrate his continuing importance to the field.
For those interested in history, in psychoanalysis, and in fascinating life stories, this book is a must-read.
Ilonka Venier Alexander is a US/Canadian author who began writing in 2014. She has written and published three previous books: The Life and Times of Franz Alexander: From Budapest to California, a biography of her famous grandfather; Growing Up Alexander: My Life with a Psychoanalytic Pioneer, documenting her family’s survival and escape during the Holocaust; and the memoir of her uncle Love and Survival: The Memoir of Arthur Renyi. She holds an undergraduate degree in constitutional history from a California university and a master’s in social work from the University of Southern California. Before becoming an author, she spent more than thirty years working in the field of mental health, with both children and adults in the US and Canada, and is a founding scholar of the British Psychoanalytic Council. The granddaughter of Dr Franz Alexander, one of the original thinkers and pioneers in the field of psychoanalysis, Ilonka grew up with him and was deeply influenced by his work. Her latest work examines the early history of psychoanalysis in the United States and Dr Alexander’s prominent role in shaping the field. It also explores the reasons why his contributions are not more widely recognised by contemporary scholars.
Acknowledgements
About the author
Series editor’s foreword by Brett Kahr
Preface
1. The background
2. The secret committee and more
3. Fiasco and exile
4. Getting down to work
5. Mind and body
6. Controversy
7. Wanderlust
8. Legacy
Appendix one: Clandestine operations
Appendix two: Franz Alexander papers
References
Further reading
Index
| Erscheinungsdatum | 19.09.2025 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Freud Museum London Series |
| Zusatzinfo | Illustrationen |
| Verlagsort | [S.l.] |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 229 mm |
| Gewicht | 316 g |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie ► Psychoanalyse / Tiefenpsychologie | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-80013-276-X / 180013276X |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-80013-276-4 / 9781800132764 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
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