This past weekend I attended an international trauma and dissociation conference.  One of the research groups staffed by young psychologists in training presented their findings that people who remembered their abuse from childhood were less likely to be assaulted in adulthood.  This seemed to me to be stating (and researching) the obvious.  Then the shocker came. The researchers stated how this finding was “counterintuitive” and not what they had predicted.

Sound of needle being scraped across the record….what?!  Such a prediction flies in the face of Freud’s famous statement, once memorized by thousands of therapists around the world: Whatever is not acknowledged or remembered is destined to be acted out.  The key word here is destined.    

Without remembrance of our past, either individually, in our families, as nations or groups of ethnicities, there is no chance to fully heal because we are destined to repeat the same “mistakes” (errors, abuses, atrocities).  Whole museums are dedicated to this notion of remembrance. That’s why we have holocaust museums,  Vietnam memorials and great works of art (books, poetry, movies) dedicated to preserving the memories and lessons of darker times. 

So how could these researchers waste their time and grant money in researching the obvious?  Don’t they read Freud anymore?  Well, according to the professor that leads them, apparently not.  He stated that it is likely that none of these students have ever read a word of Freud. The trend, begun by insurance companies, to reduce psychological practice to a series of affirmations and advice giving that has an evidential effect of 3-6 months has now made its way into doctoral programs and research, a very troubling trend.  How is it that we have let for profit companies dictate psychological theory while letting go of so much hard earned wisdom?

Now, strictly speaking, I am not a “Freudian” therapist, far from it.  But I did read The Ego and the Id in high school as required reading. (My husband had to read it in college, and he was a chemistry major).  I have a healthy respect for Freud’s significant personal journey and insights as well as my own assessment about where he went off track (not believing abuse victims in his practice and rationalizing their pain away with the strange and convoluted Oedipus theory.)  I understand why people resist Freud and don’t want to read him.  It’s challenging reading intellectually and emotionally.

Still, not reading Freud is like not reading Shakespeare, learning about DaVinci or Newton.  Do we have to invent the wheel all over again?  Why does science manage to make steady forward progress built on the geniuses of the past while psychological theory flounders around in the mucky wake of managed care?  I cry foul!  Restore the roots of professional psychology and we restore our own sanity and wisdom to move forward without wasteful detours and rehashes. 

 

Comments

---

Robin Shapiro said:

Good rant!

Also: "Those who forget history are bound to repeat it."

October 20, 2010, 4:38 PM | Web Site

---

Millicent said: Wow, your post makes mine look febele. More power to you! May 18, 2011, 4:38 PM

---

Sign my comment with: My Account     * User Name      * Password      Your Web Site  My Name     * Name      * E-Mail Address      Your Web Site  Commenting options: Show my e-mail address Show my web site URL

* Verify:  Enter the letters and numbers (case insensitive) from the image above.