Abstract
Frustration of the psychiatrist's best efforts—or even disaster-can result from failure to pay close attention to a patient's family members.
Sometimes this failure occurs because the therapist is reluctant to get too deeply involved, and sometimes because the non-patient culprit remains totally uncooperative.
Dr. Sachs describes her characters almost as well as Somerset Maugham, M.D., and she is obviously a very gifted and highly conscientious therapist. Nevertheless, the smell of catastrophe was in the air until a fluke finally provided access to a monster husband and father.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Glover, Edward: The Technique of Psychoanalysis, p. 322. International Universities Press. New York. 1955.
Spitz, René: “Familienneurose und neurotische Familie, Bericht uber den IX Kongress der Psychoanalytiker franzosischer Sprache 1936 in Nyon.” Internationale Zeitschrift fur Psychoanalyse, 23: 548, 1937.
Oberndorf. C. P.: Psychoanalysis of Married Couples. Psychoan. Rev., 25: 453, 1938.
Martin, P. A. and Bird, H. W.: An approach to the psychotherapy of marriage partners: The stereoscopic technique. Psychiatry, 16: 123–7, 1953.
Fisher, S. and Mendell, D.: The spread of psychotherapeutic effects from the patient to his family group. Psychiatry, 21: 133–40, 1958.
Rosen, V.: Changes in family equilibrium through psychoanalytic treatment, pp. 208–220. In: Neurotic Interaction in Marriages. V. Eisenstein (editor), Basic Books. New York. 1956.
Mittelmann, B.: Analysis of reciprocal neurotic patterns in family relationships. In: Neurotic Interaction in Marriage.Op. cit.,. ref. 6, pp. 81–100.
Thomas, A.: Simultaneons psychotherapy with marital parners. Am. J. Psychother., 10: 716–27, 1956.
Ackerman, N. The Psychodynamics of Family Life: Diagnosis and Treatment. Basic Books. New York. 1958.
—: Treating the Troubled Family. Basic Books. New York. 1966.
Jackson, D.: The question of family homeostasis.Psychiat. Quart. Supp., 31: 79–99, 1957.
Glasser, P.: Changes in Family Equilibrium During Psychotherapy. Family Process, 2: 245–64, 1963.
Moran, M.: Some emotional responses of patients' husbands to the psychotherapeutic course as indicated in interviews with the psychiatric caseworker. Am. J. Orthopsychiat., 24: 317–25, 1954.
Kaplan, A., and Wolff, L.: The role of the family in relation to the institutionalized mental patient. Ment. Hyg., 38: 634–9, 1954.
Lidy, T.; Hotchkiss, G., and Greenblatt, M.: Patient-family-hospital interrelationships: Some general conclusions In: The Patients and the Mental Hospital. M. Greenblatt, D. Levinson, and R. Williams (Eds.). Free Press. Glencoe III. 1957.
Freud, A.: Indications for child analysis. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 1: 127–50, 1945.
—: The Psychoanalytical Treatment of Children. Imago. London. 1966.
Burlingham, D.: Present trends in handling the mother-child relationship during therapeutic process. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 6: 31–7, 1951.
Grotjahn. M.: Analytic family therapy: A survey of trends in research and practice. In: Individual and Familial Dynamics. J. H. Masserman, editor. Science and Psychoanalysis, Vol. 2, Grune & Stratton. New York. 1959.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sachs, L.J. Psychotherapy of mother and son producing chain reactions in untreated family members. Psych Quar 46, 187–198 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01563444
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01563444