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(1925). International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 6:5-12

Metapsychological Points of View in Technique and Theory

Hanns Sachs

Empirical proof of the existence of an unconscious was in the first instance an achievement of hypnosis (Bernheim's post-hypnotic experiment). This fundamental fact has formed the basis of psycho-analytic theory, but only through the practice of psycho-analytic technique has the full implication of this discovery been realized and its importance for the understanding of mental life been established.

The first formulations of psycho-analytic theory, embodied in the Studien über Hysterie by Breuer and Freud, are essentially based on the insight gained by the help of hypnotic technique. Hence the first question to be asked about the inter-relations of theory and technique is this: why was it that after this initial step hypnosis was incapable of contributing anything more towards advancing our theory? Or, to express the same idea in positive terms: why was it inevitable that a technique independent of hypnosis should be built up on this first theoretical principle?

The very

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