Description
Sabina Spielrein is perhaps best known for her love affair with her doctor, Carl Gustav Jung. Their intense therapeutic relationship led to a fascination that lasted, for Spielrein, for the rest of her life. It is debatable whether Spielrein and Jung’s relationship was consummated, but it did give birth to some of the most important ideas within psychoanalysis and analytical psychology today, the most notable being that of the death instinct. But what happened to Spielrein and why have her story and work remained in the dark for so many years?
This collection of papers has been drawn together as a tribute to Spielrein and as an attempt to answer this question and shed new light on different aspects of her life and work. Compelling historical documents, some never seen before in English book form, and exploration of Spielrein’s life and work are presented through discussion of:
- Jung’s hospital records of his treatment of Spielrein and the historical context in which this took place
- Spielrein’s therapeutic relationship with Jung and their exchange following her discharge in 1905, illustrated by Jung’s letters to Spielrein
- Spielrein’s professional development as a psychoanalyst in her own right
- Extracts from Spielrein’s personal diary
- Her groundbreaking paper on the development of language, “The origin of the child’s words Papa and Mama”
This remarkable book will be of significant interest to psychoanalysts, analytical psychologists, and psychotherapists, as well as all those curious about the history of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic ideas.
