Helene Deutsch
“One of the 1st Female
Psychoanalyst”
By
Lincoln Lim
Mary Chandler
Mary Hebert
Ivana O’Brien
Virginia Tran
OUTLINE
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Biography
Zeigiest
Obstacles
Theories & Ideas
Strengths & Weaknesses
Contributions
Conclusion
1884 - 1897
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Helene Deutsch, the youngest of four
children was born to Wilhelm and Regina
Rosenbach in Przemysl, Poland on October
9th, 1884. She had 2 sisters and a
brother.
Helene’s
Relationship
with her parents
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1898-1912
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Given permission to attend the University.
“Przemysl Voice”, a local newspaper.
Despite her mother’s objections she had
an affair with Herman Lieberman
Helene’s 1st Relationship
Duetch con’t
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In 1910 she traveled to Munich
Book that changed her focus
She met Dr. Felix Deutsch
1912-1916
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Deutsch graduated
She took a position at Vienna University’s
Psychiatric Clinic under Wagner-Jauregg
Left to study under Emil Kraepelin in Munich.
1916 she gave birth a son
began working as Sigmund Freud’s student patient
She developed in interest in women’s mothering
experiences.
1918-1923
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Freud’s Vienna Psychoanalytic Society in
1918.
Felix Deutsch & Freud
Deutsch later moved away from Freud
Helene as a doctor, mother, wife
Wrote her first book on the psychoanalysis
of a woman.
1924 - 1935
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Narcissism
Women’s sexuality
She moved back to the Vienna Clinic
Known as the greatest teachers in
psychoanalysis
Remained there for 10 years
In 1935 she moved to Boston (USA)
1936 – 1982
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Wrote a two volume book “The Psychology
of Women”
Self reflection
Focus with women’s psychology changed
1964 her husband dies
Deutsch dies at the age of 97
Helene Deutsch
(Oct 9, 1884 -March 29, 1982)
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ZEITGEIST
Culture
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Women’s place was at home
Life time fulfillments for women
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Expectations of Women of middle-class bearing
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Serve their husbands
Produce children
Manage the home
Singing
Needle work
Playing the piano
Professional settings
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Professional careers for Women was a rarity
Certain occupations were forbidden to Women
Family
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Middle-class family
Mother makes all household decisions
Females are not allowed in the kitchen
Hired help (servants)
Religion
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Dominant religion
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Roman Catholic
Minority religion
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Jews
Politics
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Polish Social Democratic Party
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The empowerment of laborers as an individual
World War 1
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Occupational vacancies due to war efforts
University of Vienna’s Psychiatric Facilities
Post World War 1
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Rise of Psychoanalysis and Freud
Founding of the Vienna Psychoanalytic
Training Institute
World War 2
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Rise of Fascism, Adolf Hitler and Jews
anti-semantics
Post World War 2
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Increasing interest in Psychology in US
Secure career
Personal and Professional
Obstacles
Family
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Regina wanted
Helene to marry right
after high school
Was denied from
furthering her
education
Law School
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Women were not
allowed to study law
Could not follow
Wilhelm’s footsteps
Love Affair
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Affair with Lieberman
Lieberman was
married with a child
Had an affair to spite
Regina
Births
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1 abortion
3 miscarriages
Psychology of Motherhood
The Mother-Child Relation
Tasks of Motherhood
The Early Years
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The tasks of motherhood correspond to the
developmental stage of the child
Early stage (Infancy):
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Taking care of the child’s physical well-being through
breastfeeding
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This strengthens the tie between mother and child
Second stage (Toddler):
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Taking care of the child’s physical and psychic well-being
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Teaching the child to control his impulses
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Being too lenient can lead to the child being undisciplined and
controlled by his instincts
Being to controlling can lead the child to possibly developing a neurotic
illness
The role of the psychoanalyst
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To discover the role of the unconscious
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Cultural and environmental factors
Unresolved conflicts from the past which get played out in motherhood
The psychic well being of the mother is a key element to the
success of raising a child
The “psychological umbilical cord”
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The connection between mother and child goes from a
physical one, through the umbilical cord, to a psychic
one, through the mother’s ability to intuitively relate to
her child
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Blending of affective with intellectual
Normal motherhood: Sublimation
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Deutsch stated that normal motherhood involves a
mother transforming her impulses into proper ways of
dealing with her child
Sexual instincts into “motherly tenderness”
Agressiveness into “protective activity”
Narcissism into “maternal love”
Masochism into self sacrifice
Distorted Identification
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According to Deutsch, there are distorted ways in which a mother
identifies with her child
Egoistic self love
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Seeks in child what the mother misses in herself
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The mother attempts to identify with her child through her own ego
She does this through educational means
The mother pretends to be something that she is not
The child is sensitive to the mother’s untruthfulness
This is detrimental to the relationship between mother and child
because the child can not take his mother’s efforts seriously
Setting up ideals to replace warm emotions
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The mother will use intellectual means to create high standards for her
children to live up to
This would be fine except that the ideals replace warm emotions
Case History: Mrs. Mazzetti
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Mrs. Mazzetti became a mother at 16, and after her marriage fell
apart she set ideals for her children to live up to
These high standards were a replacement of warm emotions and
her children rebelled against her
Mrs. Mazzetti also tried to convince her children of her superiority by
devaluing their father even though she kept becoming pregnant by
him
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This inconsistency lead the children to devalue their mother, and made
her standards impossible to live up to
She was only able to give affection to one child at a time (Emotional
Ambivalence)
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Her children realized that their mother’s love was unreliable and could
not take her moral demands seriously
Case History: Mrs. Mazzetti
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Deutsch pointed out that another task of motherhood is
the proper utilization of the tie between mother and
child
According to Deutsch, Mrs. Mazzetti was suffering from
an abnormal identification with her children and
therefore was not utilizing the tie between them
The “tragedy of motherhood”
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Deutsch used this term to describe the inevitable
separation and resulting emotions that a mother and
child go through as the child grows up and becomes
independent
The child wants to cut the tie while the mother tries to preserve
it
The Anxious mother
The Hysterical/Infantile mother
 Old guilt feelings (i.e. “You will lose your child”)
The Obsessional-neurotic mother
 Overprotection and high educational demands
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How does Deutsch’s theory differ
from Freud?
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Neuroses
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Two stage theory
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Freud: Neuroses result from present event eliciting a return to past Oedipal
desires
Deutsch: Neuroses result from adult events eliciting early mothering
experience
Psychoanalysis
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Transference
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Freud: Oedipus complex
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Female’s desire for father transferred onto Freud
Deutsch: Complete Oedipus complex
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Maternal transference- the client’s desire for the mother transferred onto Deutsch
Contributions to Psychology
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Deutsch emphasized that the psyche of mothers could be studied
directly
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The pedagogy of the time said that the psyche of mothers was only a
factor of the child’s psychology
Deutsch introduced the method of “continuous case” which became
a standard method of conducting psychoanalytic training
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She held seminars during 1928-9 in which she told case histories of
clients
Case Study by Deutsch
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Case Study of Helen by DeutschHelen, 15 year old girl
Very talented and very pretty
Parents had been separated for two years
and so she lived with her mother and
older sister Susie
Susie was her father’s favorite
Helen was very close to her mother
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Helen’s sister had always been a good student
and Helen looked up to her very much
Separation of parents caused a regrouping of
the children
Helen’s mother realized that she must give more
attention to Susie because she was without her
father but Helen did not show any jealousy.
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Helen worshipped her sister and even took
her advice more willingly than her
mother’s.
Susie had a boyfriend for years and
eventually they became engaged.
Then slowly she began to show changes in
her personality
She became very hostile towards Susie
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Deutsch concluded after treating Susie for
two weeks “that the separation of her
parents and her mother’s increased
interest in Susie had aroused violent
emotional reactions in Helen.”
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In the beginning there was a period that Helen was very
obsessed with what Susie and Bill were doing together.
She imagined them in the most erotic situations, and as
she would see them very reserved and controlled she
would think that her sister was just acting.
Prior to all of this Helen looked at Susie as an ideal
figure
When Helen could no longer identify with her sister as
an ideal figure she began to identify with the fantasy she
had of Susie
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Deutsch said that this kind of identification
with an ideal model is a favorable
contribution to psychological development.
She was quickly cured after she was given
an opportunity to make such an
identification
Identification
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During puberty, identification is a
complicated process that varies from
individual to individual.
This process make a very necessary and
important contribution to the further
elaboration and strengthening of the ego.
It can help rescue a still weak personality
or lead to renunciation of personality.
Prepuberty
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Deutsch defined this time as the large state of
the latency period in which sexual drives are a
preview of what is to come.
This phase is when sexual instincts are at their
weakest and the development of the ego most
intense.
Between ages 10 and 12.
The need to be recognized as an adult is great
at this time.
Prepuberty
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The young girl begins to be very critical
of her parents especially of her mother.
Makes an attempt to be different from her
mother.
In prepuberty the girl will attach herself
directly to another girl to feel more
secure.
Early Puberty
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During this period friendship between girls is of
the greatest importance.
Identification with a similar being can strengthen
the young girl’s consciousness that she is an
independent ego.
This period of time is an unbearable situation for
the child and creates a need for the child to be
free and belong to another group besides the
family.
Puberty and Adolescence
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The events that take place in this period are
initiated during prepuberty and continue in early
puberty.
This is the period of the decisive last battle
taught before maturity.
Like prepuberty, identification plays a very
important role in this stage.
The adolescent feels as though her individuality
is threatened.
Case Study of the “Imposter”
The Imposter: Contribution to Ego
Psychology of a Type of Psychopath
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1925 was a historical milestone
Aichorn published, Wayward Youth
Abraham published, “The History of a
Swindler”
“I consider it especially valuable to single
out from the many varieties of
psychopathic personality one particular
type and to attempt to understand him.”
The Imposter’s relationship with
Mother
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Jimmy, born late in marriage
Brothers were 10 and 11 years older than
Jimmy
Mother described as a “simple woman”
Devoted herself completely to the
youngest
“In such an atmosphere, narcissism and
passivity were bound to flourish”
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Her “emotional overfeeding” led to
infantile narcissism
Her compliance to her child also results
in the child’s poor adaptation to reality –
weak ego
Mother was a masochistic victim to
Jimmy (as well as a victim to her
husband)
Narcissism in imposters
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Imposters pursue a false identity that
would do justice to their narcissistic
conception of themselves; “I am a genius.”
mentality
Jimmy’s identities: farmer, writer, movie
producer, inventor (worked with
experienced physicist)
Masochistic mother  Psychopathic
sons!!!
What makes a female develop into
masochistic females?
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Controversy over Deutsch’s ideas of
masochistic females.
Misinterpretation by several individuals
Albin (1977) Psychological Studies of Rape
As well as Karen Horney
Albin (1977)
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Albin writes, “Helene Deutsch- a follower
of Freud- was the major contributor to the
view that the female herself is responsible
for her own rape.”
Karen Horney
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Karen Horney took Deutsch’s theory of
masochism to mean that women want to
be raped and violated.
masochism was apart of normal women
tendencies
Karen Horney disputed Helene’s ideas.
According to Rozen (2004), Horney’s critic
helped bury Helene’s work.
Helene Detusch’s Response to
Karen Horney
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“At this point I should like to defened my previous work against a
misinterpretation. K. Horney contends that I regard feminine
masochism as an ‘elemental power in feminine mental life’ and that,
according to my view, ‘what women ultimately wants is intercourse
is to be raped and violated; what she wants in mental life is to be
humiliated.’ It is true that I consider masochism ‘an elemental power
in feminine life,’ but in my previous studies and also in this one I
have tried to show that one of woman’s tasks is to govern this
masochism, to steer it into the right paths, and thus to protect
herself against those dangers that Horney thinks I consider woman’s
‘normal’ lot. Cf. K. Horney: New ways in psychoanalysis. New York:
Norton, 1938, p 110.”
What Helene Deutsch really
thought . . .
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No normal women consciously want to hurt
themselves or put themselves in danger!!!
Masochism is the desire from the unconscious
“the human ego is endowed with a vast self-love
that, under relatively normal conditions, suffices
to prevent self-destructive actions.”
Female Development
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Early female masochism can be observed
in their play with boys
For the young female to be treated as an
equal in the group of boys, the girl must
allow herself to be beaten up and
humiliated.
Father-Daughter Play
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The father plays with the child in an
acrobatic manner.
The female exhibits joy when the father
lifts her in the air, but the playing hurts
her
Masochism!!
Puberty
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The task of puberty in normal
development is to channel masochistic
urges into healthy fantasies
Healthy women and Masochism:
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They can gratify their masochistic
tendency by serving a cause or a human
being; “Masochism assumes the false
name of heroism”
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Healthy women must have a certain level of
masochism to adjust to her feminine role
Sexual activity (defloration) is a painful process
for women. Masochistic nature allow them to
accept the pain.
The process of child-bearing is also painful for
women; “the wish for a child acquires
masochistic character”
Helene Detusch’s experience with
Masochism
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At sixteen, Deutsch fell in love with a
revolutionary leader, Herman Liebermann,
who was twice her age.
She threw herself into the socialism work
in Poland
Deutusch found her creativity to be
smothered by him, and left the
relationship
“Masochistic element was predominant”
Contributions
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Two volume book The Psychology of Women
(1944) has been used for training analysts for
years
Webster (1985) says that no one can ignore her
work when dealing with female psychology
Deutsch redefines Freud’s work to portray
women in a less negative light
- ie – Freud gives women
narcissism a derogatory meaning; she
says women’s narcissism is healthy
and good
Weaknesses
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“Her emotional dependence on his (Freud’s)
theory leads her to use his concepts as points of
reference even when they contradict her own
observations.” (Webster 1985)
Feminists did not like her
Deutsch’s work “became an object of scorn
among the generation of American feminists;
today they have been for a good while out of
print in English, although her work continues to
be made accessible in Paris . . .” (Roazen 2004)
Strengths
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Feminists (particularly Nancy Chodorow)
finds her work with mother-daughter
relationship positive.
Freud respected her work. In 1918, Freud
accepted Helene as his personal analyst
Like Freud, some of her work is
outrageous and controversial; however, it
makes sense in our personal lives.
Conclusion
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a pioneer of her time
the first to focus on and write about females in
a psychoanalytical perspective
She overcame adversity and the stereotyping of
that time
Deutsch’s theories was often mis-interpreted
Not the typical female, one of the first female
doctors of medicine
Bibliography
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Albin, R.S. (1977). Psychological studies of rape. Journal of Women in Culture and
Society, 3(2), 423-435.
Answers.com (n.d.). Helene Deutsch-Rosenbach. Retrieved June 7, 2007, from
http://www.answers.com/topic/deutsch-rosenbach-helene
Deutsch, H. (1944). The psychology of women; A psychoanalytic interpretation , (Vol.
1). New York: Grune and Stratton.
Deutsch, H. (1944). The psychology of women; A psychoanalytic interpretation, (Vol.
2). New York: Grune and Stratton.
Deutsch, H. (1955). The imposter: Contribution to ego psychology of a type of
psychopath. Psychoanalyt. Quart., 24(4), 483-505.
Radcliffe College (n.d.) Deutsch, Helene, 1884-. Retrieved June 7, 2007, from
http://oasis.harvard.edu:10080/oasis/deliver/~sch00550
Roazen, Paul (1985) Helene Deutsch: A psychoanalyst’s life. Garden City, New York:
Anchor Press/Doubleday.
Roazen, P. (2004). An author's reexamination Helene Deutsch: A psychoanalyst's life.
Psychoanalytic Psychology, 21(4), 622-32.
Sayers. J. (1991). Mothers of psychoanalysis. New York: W. W. Norton.
Webster.edu (n.d.). Helene Deutsch. Retrieved June 7, 2007, from
http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/deutsch.html