You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
To the Editors: In The Forum discussion of conjoint family therapy the question is discussed of Sigmund Freud's insight into family dynamics.
A relatively unknown and to my knowledge untranslated passage from an interview given by Heinrich Meng1 throws some more light on Sigmund Freud and his insight into family dynamics. Here is the quotation:
“I reported to Freud about a man with severe alcoholism. Freud wanted to hear details; most of all about the ‘family-constellation’ and about the character of the patient. His opinion then was: ‘Among other things it is the masochism of the wife—who according to your report cannot be treated for various reasons—which is one of the obstacles. Considering the character of the patient and his age of fifty-eight years you ought to terminate the analysis. The man will perish of his alcoholism. Use your time for other patients who really need analysis.’”
Freud must have known the wife's important part in the husband's drinking habits, about which we are only now learning more from recent studies.
Martin Grotjahn, M.D.
Beverly Hills, California