The Impact of Anna Terruwe on the Work of Conrad Baars

Abstract

In his autobiography Doctor of the Heart, Conrad Baars (1996) recounted his desire to leave the profession of psychiatry until he discovered the Dutch neuropsychiatrist Anna Terruwe through her writings on Thomistic rational psychology in conceptualizing, treating, and preventing neurosis. He immediately began a partnership with her that continued until his death in 1981. Baars (1982) acknowledged that before discovering Terruwe's work, he did not believe he was “getting anywhere in bringing about true healing” (p. 347). He named Terruwe the discoverer of deprivation neuroses and attributed to her their treatment models for several types of repressive neurosis (Baars, 1959, 1960). An exploration of the legacy of Baars therefore benefits from understanding Terruwe's collaboration with him and her contributions to psychiatry grounded in her philosophical and theological understanding of the human person (Baars, 1981). This article introduces Terruwe, her relationship to Baars, and her theories of neurosis and affirmation that Terruwe and Baars applied to their treatment of individuals, married people, consecrated religious, and priests. Because affirmation is a concept of Terruwe's that Baars widely promoted in the United States and with which he is often associated today, this article offers a detailed summary of her book The Abode of Love in which she formulates the concept of affirmation through a reflection on the meaning, operation, and significance of human love as fundamental for happiness in general, in marriage, and in the priesthood (Ware, 1970).