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International psychoanalysis has been in existence for more than 60 years and yet it is just beginning to emerge as a field of collaboration and mutual stimulation on a more open-ended basis.
Freud, as the creator of psychoanalysis, founded the International Psychoanalytic Association as a haven for his adherents. According to his own statements, he wanted the Association to provide protection against the hostile medical and scientific communities. At the same time, he hoped that the new organization would spearhead the advance of his personal creation—psychoanalysis-to the far corners of the earth. Several psychoanalytic groups sprang up in different parts of the world and became outposts of the psychoanalytic movement, providing an international alliance for the support of Freud's work.
Angry shouts of defection and outbursts of personal rancor occurred when Jung, Adler, Rank, and others did not subscribe to the main ideology of psychoanalysis. The result was a splintering of the field into many schools of thought and for a while, at least, a greater “Chinese Wall” existed between the International Psychoanalytic Association and the rest of the field. As time went on, ideologic differences became less prominent and considerations of a political nature and national chauvinism took the place of scientific disagreement.
It is remarkable that psychoanalysis has moved ahead and made valuable contributions to many fields in spite of its internal dissension. On the whole, psychoanalysis has proven to be highly resistive to political exploitation. It has shown a strong immunity against destructive ideologies and has survived in Germany even during the brutally destructive years of the Third Reich. This is a remarkable monument to the spiritual strength of psychoanalysis and is a force which should be used constructively within the field. Today, psychoanalysis can point with pride to being a symbol of desirable human aspirations. This fact has been acknowledged in many parts