Profession - Psychoanalyst: A Historical View

Abstract

This paper focuses on the coming into being of psychoanalysis as a psychotherapeutic method and as a profession, covering the period from the 1890s until the foundation of the first training institute. This period is roughly divided into six phases: (1) Freud's first two pupils. (2) Freud's demonstration of his method on other colleagues that show that treatment and instruction were virtually indistinguishable. (3) The foundation of a private study and discussion group, without much impact on larger circles. (4) The Burgholzli clinic in Zurich became the main recruiting center for the nascent psychoanalytic movement. (5) In the early 1910s, a handful of psychoanalysts sought to have a first-hand experience of the method. (6) In 1920, the Berlin Institute was founded, introducing the tripartite training system that prevails to this day.