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Germany is once again joining the mainstream of psychoanalysis. This is a noteworthy event because the evolution of the psychoanalytic movement in that country has suffered more than the usual number of vicissitudes. A movement that showed great promise under the leadership of Karl Abraham and the Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute was totally perverted by Nazi domination and oppression.
The authors begin by giving us an overall view of how the 'Jewish Science' fared under oppression and how it struggled to establish itself once more after World War II. Psychoanalysis in Germany received many blows from external forces, in contrast to the situations in Great Britain and the United States where internecine warfare and internal disruption threatened to undermine the stability of the psychoanalytic movement and the integrity of Institutes.
Finally, Thomä & Kächele discuss the present setting of psychoanalysis under managed care. They point out both advantages and disadvantages. Among the advantages is the availability of psychoanalysis for patients who could not otherwise afford it.
However, the analyst's compensation, by American standards, is quite low, about twenty-five to thirty dollars per session. As the authors point out, in view of the time and money spent on training an analyst, this is hardly an equitable fee.
Nevertheless, I get the impression that the climate for psychoanalysis in Germany is better than in America. The government recognises it as a standard form of treatment and will sponsor at least 240 sessions, which, in some instances, can be expanded to 300 and even more. This stands in contrast to the denigration psychoanalysis has experienced in American society, and the difficulties involved in getting insurance companies to accept more than once a week treatment. A recent Time magazine cover has a picture of Freud with the caption, 'Is Freud Dead?'. In spite of the limitations of third-party payments, in Germany psychoanalysis appears to have a