Freud's Patient Calendars: 17 Analysts in Analysis With Freud (1910–1920)

Abstract

The author examines the course of 17 analyses, as conducted by Freud, on the basis of a new source, Freud's patient notebooks. All analysands (five women, 12 men) were or were to become members of a psychoanalytic society. Their treatments were marked by a relatively short duration (all of them less than a year) and a very high number of hours per week (generally six). The total number of hours ranged between nine and about 250. Compared to the present conditions, both the duration and the number of hours per week show a great historical change has taken place. The author discusses this change as well as some other characteristics, e.g. the customary extra-analytical contact between Freud and his analysands. In an appendix, treatment profiles of all 17 analyses are given, summarizing their duration, the total number of hours, numerous of hours per week and number of hours in each month of treatment.