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Dr. Arthur F. Valenstein opened the panel by observing that normality has both a statistical and a normative definition which do not coincide. The statistical elevates what is into what ought to be and is not synonymous with mental health; the normative defines the normal in terms of what ought to be and is synonymous with mental health. He stressed the importance for the psychoanalyst of recognizing that the choice between the two definitions is not a matter of semantic curiosity because the differing attitudes which lie behind each definition affect all aspects of his work. Citing the work of Jahoda and Jones, he found support for his conclusion that the psychoanalytic concept of mental health is normative.
While not disputing the view that psychoanalysis began as a psychology of the abnormal in human behavior, Valenstein asserted that embedded within it from the beginning were concepts that later would be developed into a psychology of normality, including a normative theory of psychic development. Through quotations from Freud from 1900 to 1940 Valenstein documented his opinion that the study of the abnormal and the normal are areas of legitimate concern for psychoanalysts.
In "The Interpretation of Dreams" and "The Psychopathology of Everyday Life" Freud reported his discoveries that both symbolism in the formation of dreams and parapraxes could be considered phenomena that bridge the gap between normal mental life and the abnormal mental life of neurotics. He became increasingly confident that distinctions between the two were ones of degree not of kind, and in "On The Sexual Theories of Children" he observed