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The psychotherapeutic and psychoanalytic approach to the therapy of schizophrenia, as well as to other functional psychoses, has advanced far more rapidly, and has been pursued far more vigorously in the United States than perhaps anywhere else in the world. In Germany, the strong hold of an organic viewpoint of the psychoses has practically stifled the psychological attack on these diseases. Thus the appearance of Hencke's book may prove something of a novelty to his German public—and should evoke wide interest there. It offers much less of the new to an American psychiatric student. The isolation of German psychiatry for the past twenty years is reflected in Hencke's lack of knowledge of the work of Sullivan, Reichmann, Sechehaye, Federn, Knight, and dozens of others. The only American to whose work he makes reference is that of Rosen. The author's book was “vieux jeu” to us even as it left the press.
The heart of this volume is a long, detailed case history with careful description of his therapeutic efforts over a period of some four months of almost daily therapy in the case of “Olga D.,” a severe schizophrenic, age 17. This case report covers some 140 pages, or nearly one half the book. Dr. Hencke treated her 17 years ago with success, but for one reason or another did not publish his results. He, himself, is analytically trained, and uses a thorough-going analytic approach which is in many points not as orthodoxly Freudian as some would like to see. The patient has remained well these many years. Hencke's efforts were those of a pioneer and deserve nothing but admiration. We, in this country, have become quite familiar with this kind of handling of a schizophrenic; and our literature is quite extensive in that respect. He certainly offers us little that can be considered new. There is no question as to the interest the case provides for an attentive reader. (Although his style is cumbersome and cramped, and is not easy reading.)
The rest of the book is made up