Subscribe to get access to the full episode, the episode reading list, and all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/OrdinaryUnhappiness

Abby and Patrick examine the case study of “Frau Emmy von N.” From the perspective of both clinical technique and the history of psychoanalysis, it is primarily significant as an artifact from when Freud was still thinking in terms of associationist psychology and using hypnosis in treatment sessions. In terms of narrative, it seems, at least superficially, to be just another example of “hysterical neurosis” as encountered in the story of Anna O. Yet as Abby and Patrick discuss, the case of Emmy Von N. in fact suggests some pivotal shifts in Freud’s thinking, from a “subconscious” to a dynamic unconscious, and from performing interpretations to listening to patients talk in their own terms and along their own timelines. And the real story behind the pseudonym Freud gave to Fanny Moser, née Baroness Fanny Louise von Sulzer-Wart, the richest woman in Central Europe, is actually a wild tale of social scandal, intergenerational loss and reparation, and possibly even True Crime.

Sources include:

Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen, Freud’s Patients: A Book of Lives

Phillip M. Bromberg, “Hysteria, Dissociation, and Cure: Emmy von N Revisited,” Psychoanalytic Dialogues 6:1 (1996)

Henri Ellenberger, “A Critical Study of ‘Emmy von N.’ with New Documents,” in Beyond the Unconscious: Essays of Henri F. Ellenberger in the History of Psychiatry

Else Pappenheim, “Freud and Gilles de la Tourette: Diagnostic Speculations on ‘Frau Emmy von N,’” International Review of Psychoanalysis 7:265 (1980)

Have you noticed that Freud is back? Got questions about psychoanalysis? Or maybe you’ve traversed the fantasy and lived to tell the tale? Leave us a voicemail! (646) 450-0847

A podcast about psychoanalysis, politics, pop culture, and the ways we suffer now. New episodes on Saturdays. Follow us on social media:

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/OrdinaryUnhappiness
Twitter: @UnhappinessPod
Instagram: @OrdinaryUnhappiness
Patreon: patreon.com/OrdinaryUnhappiness

Theme song:
Formal Chicken - Gnossienne No. 1
https://open.spotify.com/album/2MIIYnbyLqriV3vrpUTxxO
Provided by Fruits Music

Hysteria, Dissociation and Cure

Mentioned by

Mentioned in 0 episodes

The AI-powered Podcast Player