Readers who like to plan ahead should note that on Thursday, December 14, 2012, at 9:00 A.M., the Oral History Workshop of The American will meet in the Starlight Room atop the Waldorf-Astoria. The topic is psychoanalysis in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Prominently featured in the discussion will be Harold Blum, plenary speaker at the May 1996 meeting of The American. Far-fetched? Well, certainly not the part about Blum. Indeed, it would be difficult to find anyone who has had a greater impact on psychoanalysis in our time.
Harold Blum has been a major figure in the psychoanalytic literature, editor of the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association from 1973 to 1983, vice president for North America of the International Psychoanalytical Association since 1993, executive director of the Sigmund Freud Archives since 1986, and senior advisor for the Freud exhibit at the library of Congress, now rescheduled for fall 1998. Blum has been plenary speaker at a meeting of The American once before, in May 1988, on which occasion he spoke on the topic “The Concept of Termination and the Evolution of Psychoanalytic Thought” He has edited four books and coedited a fifth, on such diverse topics as reconstruction; female psychology; the theory of therapy; historical perspectives and current concepts; and unconscious fantasy, myth, and reality. But these accomplishments are but the tip of the iceberg.
Blum's scientific papers have put him in the forefront of the modern development of structural theory. He has integrated major concepts and theoretical positions with recent thought and new evidence concerning such subjects as female development, transference and countertransference, reconstruction, the primal scene, and the use of infant observation. He has applied his extensive knowledge and understanding of Freud and his writings to a review of Freud's case histories, including the Wolf Man, Dora, and Irma. Never hewing religiously to established assumptions, Blum attempts to understand people in their entirety, eschewing neither classical Freudian developmental concepts nor later additions.
Never too busy, despite his many pursuits, to participate in his local institute and society, Blum is one of the most active teachers at the NYU Institute. He is also a frequent contributor to the scientific meetings of the Psychoanalytic Association of New York.
This extraordinary career is more understandable, though no less impressive, to those who know Blum personally. He is one of those rare people who combine exceptional memory, superior intelligence, and boundless energy. I have known him as both teacher and colleague at NYU. As first-year candidates, my classmates and I were somewhat overwhelmed by his detailed knowledge and understanding of Freud's life and case histories. Later I came to relish his classes and the opportunity to engage in dialogue with one of the clearest thinkers in our field. His theory has always been grounded in clinical evidence. No matter how complex and abstract the subject matter appeared, we never found ourselves far from the consulting room.
That clinical focus is in keeping with Blum's relatedness to people. Whether talking about a patient or greeting a colleague or candidate, Harold is sensitive to the feelings of others. I have noted that he makes it a point to say hello to the quiet candidate standing outside the circle.
For his plenary address, Blum will examine a subject important in human affairs but little explored in the psychoanalytic literature. His topic will be “Clinical and Developmental Dimensions of Hate”.