Abstract
I began my Ferenczi studies in the fall of 1987, a year before the English translation of his Clinical Diary was published. Since then, I have demonstrated in writing, teaching, working, and living that there is scarcely a passage in this “laboratory notebook of psychoanalysis” that fails to illuminate the clinical and the personal. And above all is Ferenczi’s late awareness that his personality had been constructed upon false assumptions. This is a reckoning of thirty years’ conscious and unconscious usage of Ferenczi’s experience to illustrate, to interpret, and to expose the clinical and personal dimensions of my own life lived as “the will of another person.” What constitutes, what allows, a choice between dying and rearranging? Now that I am long past Ferenczi’s fifty-nine years, I take the risk every day, and I know it.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Balint, M. (1967). Sandor Ferenczi’s technical experiments. In B. Wolman (Ed.), Psychoanalytic techniques: A handbook for the practicing psychoanalyst (pp. 147–167). New York: Basic Books.
Barish, S. & Vida, J. (1998). As far as possible: Discovering our limits and finding ourselves. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 58, 83–98.
Bonomi, C. (1999). Flight into sanity: Jones’s allegations of Ferenczi’s mental deterioration reconsidered. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 80, 507–542.
Bonomi, C. (2015). The cut and the building of Psychoanalysis, Volume I: Sigmund Freud and Emma Eckstein. Sussex: Routledge.
Bonomi, C. (2018). The cut and the building of Psychoanalysis, Volume II: Sigmund Freud and Sándor Ferenczi. London: Routledge.
Chase-Riboud, B. (1969). Sally Hemings: A novel (p. 2009). Chicago: Chicago Review Press.
Dimitrijevic, A. (2017). Book Review. The cut and the building of Psychoanalysis, Volume I: Sigmund Freud and Emma Eckstein, By C. Bonomi. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 77, 87–90.
Falzeder, E. (2015). Psychoanalytic filiations: Mapping the psychoanalytic movement. London: Karnac.
Ferenczi, S. (1919). ‘For example’ in analysis. In Further contributions to the theory and technique of psycho-analysis (pp. 184–186). London: Maresfield Reprints. 1994.
Ferenczi, S. (1932). The clinical diary of Sándor Ferenczi (J. Dupont, Ed., M. Balint & N. Z. Jackson, Trans.) Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 1988.
Ferenczi, S. (1952). First contributions to psycho-analysis (E. Jones, Trans.). London: Maresfield Reprints. 1980.
Freud, S. & Ferenczi, S. (1908–1914). The correspondence for Sigmund Freud and Sándor Ferenczi, Volume 1. 1908–1914. E. Brabant, E. Falzeder & P. Giampieri-Deutsch (Eds.), P. T. Hoffer (Trans.), With an Introduction by A. Haynal. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 1992.
Freud, S. and Ferenczi, S. (1914–1919). The correspondence for Sigmund Freud and Sándor Ferenczi, Volume 2, 1914–1919. E. Falzeder & E. Brabant, (Eds.), P. T. Hoffer (Trans.), With an Introduction by A. Hoffer. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 1996.
Freud, S. & Ferenczi, S. (1920–1933). The correspondence for Sigmund Freud and Sándor Ferenczi, Volume 3, 1920–1933. E. Falzeder & E. Brabant (Eds.), with the collaboration of P. Giampieri-Deutsch under the supervision of A. Haynal. P. T. Hoffer (Trans.) With and Introduction by J. Dupont. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. 2000.
Gordon-Reed, A. (1997). Thomas Jefferson & Sally Hemings: An American controversy. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.
Gordon-Reed, A. (2008). The Hemingses of Monticello: An American family. New York and London: W.W. Norton & Co.
Haynal, A. E. (1988). The technique at issue. Controversies in psychoanalysis: From Freud and Ferenczi to Michael Balint. London: Karnac Books.
Haynal, A. E. (2002). Freud and Ferenczi: A difficult relationship of a tragic love affair? In E. Haynal (Ed.), Disappearing and reviving—Sándor Ferenczi in the history of psychoanalysis (pp. 11–124). London: Karnac.
Kilborne, B. (2008). Human foibles and psychoanalytic technique: Freud, Ferenczi and Gizella Palos. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 68, 1–23.
Mahony, P., Bonomi, C. & Stensson, J. (Eds.). (1997). Behind the scenes: Freud in correspondence. Oslo: Scandinavian University Press.
Molad, G. & Vida, J. (2006). Towards a quadro-partite training model, or, from identification relations (of power) to introjection-relations (of love): The case of ‘identification with the aggressor. In R. Raubolt (Ed.), Power games: Influence, persuasion, and indoctrination in psychotherapy training (pp. 297–312). New York: Other Press.
Molad, G., Vida, J., Bassett, S., Barish, S. & DuBois, P. (2007). The responsible controversy. In The Analyst’s Love: Contemporary Perspectives, D. Shaw, Ed. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 27, 264–286.
Peele, J. (Producer & Director). (2017). Get Out! [Motion Picture]. Blumhouse Productions, QC Entertainment, and Monkeypaw Productions. USA.
Rothschild, L. (2017). Book Review. The cut and the building of Psychoanalysis, Volume I. Sigmund Freud and Emma Eckstein. By Carlo Bonomi. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 77, 91–96.
Rothschild, L. (2018). Book Review. The cut and the building of Psychoanalysis, Volume II: Sigmund Freud and Sándor Ferenczi. By Carlo Bonomi. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 78 (in this Issue).
Smith, Z. (2017, July). Getting in and out: Who owns black pain? [Film Review]. Harper’s Magazine. Retrieved from https://harpers.org/archive/2017/07/getting-in-and-out/.
Vida, J. (1987). The Maverick Analysts: Karen Horney and Clara Thompson, presented at conference, The Vital Force: Contributions of Women to Psychoanalysis, sponsored by the Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, February 14–15; unpublished paper, requested for teaching purposes by San Diego Psychoanalytic Institute.
Vida, J. (1989). Discussion of “The Freud-Ferenczi relationship and its bearing on contemporary psychoanalysis,” presentation by A. Haynal, Los Angeles Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, June 1. Unpublished.
Vida, J. (1991). Sándor Ferenczi on female sexuality. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 19, 271–281.
Vida, J. (1993a). Ferenczi’s Clinical Diary: Roadmap to the realm of primary relatedness. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 21, 623–635.
Vida, J. (1993b). Discussion of “Asymmetry and mutuality in the analytic relationship: Lessons for today from the Freud-Ferenczi relationship,” presentation by A. Hoffer, Southern California Psychoanalytic Institute, January 12. Unpublished.
Vida, J. (1994a). Sándor Ferenczi: Amalgamating with the existing body of knowledge. In A. Haynal & E. Falzeder (Eds.), 100 Years of psychoanalysis: Contributions to the history of psychoanalysis. Special issue of Cahiers Psychiatriques Genevois, distributed by Karnac Books, London.
Vida, J. (1994b). The Freud-Ferenczi Correspondence, Volume 1: 1908–1914. By E. Brabant, E. Falzeder & P. Giampieri-Deutsch (Eds.), P. T. Hoffer (Trans.), with an introduction by A. Haynal. Psychoanalytic Books, 5, 339–348.
Vida, J. (1996). The “wise baby” grows up: The contemporary relevance of Sándor Ferenczi. In P. Rudnytsky, A. Bókay & P. Giampieri-Deutsch (Eds.), Ferenczi’s turn in psychoanalysis (pp. 266–286). New York: New York University Press.
Vida, J. (1997). The voice of Ferenczi: Echoes from the past. In Sándor Ferenczi, a favorite son, A. Rachman. Ed. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 17, 404–415.
Vida, J. (1999a). Considering androgyny: Another dimension of Ferenczi’s disagreement with Freud. International Forum of Psychoanalysis, 8, 257–262.
Vida, J. (1999b). Discussion of plenary session, “Contemporary Applications of Ferenczi” (papers by Martin-Cabré, Hoffer, Cohen, and Molad), presentation titled, Which Ferenczi is it? The Israel Psychotherapy Association’s 23rd Annual Conference,”Sándor Ferenczi–The Mother of Modern Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy”, the Fifth International Sándor Ferenczi Conference, Tel Aviv, Israel, May 8. Unpublished.
Vida, J. (2000). Not ‘Filed Away As Finally Dealt With’, (“Soha sincs befejezve”, Tomcsányi Zsuzsa, trans.) in In Memoriam Sándor Ferenczi, Judit Mészáros, ed., Budapest, Hungary: Jószöveg, 2000 (Hungarian); American Journal of Psychoanalysis (English), 63, 39–47, 2003.
Vida, J. (2001). Ferenczi’s “teratoma”: a result, not a process. International Forum for Psychoanalysis, 10, 235–241.
Vida, J. (2002a). The indispensable “difficult event”. In J. Reppen & M. Schulman (Eds.), Failures in psychoanalytic treatment. Madison, CT: International Universities Press.
Vida, J. (2002b). The role of love in the therapeutic action of psychoanalysis. American Imago, 59, 435–445.
Vida, J. (2005). Treating the “wise baby”. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 65, 3–12.
Vida, J. (2008). What’s missing? In D. Harvey (Ed.), Aspects of Mel’s Hole: Artists Respond to a Paranormal Event Occurring in Radiospace. (pp. 29–35). Santa Ana, CA: Grand Central Press; Other/Wise (2), unpaginated .2009.
Vida, J. (2010). “Didn’t you ever love me?” Other/Wise (3), unpaginated. Retrieved from http://www.ipfe.org.
Vida, J. (2017). Book Review. The cut and the building of Psychoanalysis, Volume I. Sigmund Freud and Emma Eckstein. By Carlo Bonomi. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 77, 83–86.
Vida, J. & Barish, S. (2003). The center of gravity. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 63, 123–136.
Vida, J. & Molad, G. (2002). The autobiographical dialogue in the dialogue between analysts. Retrieved from http://icpla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Molad-G.J.-Vida-J.-The-Autobiographical-Dialogue.pdf (as Molad & Vida, in Relational and intersubjective perspectives in psychoanalysis: A critique. J. Mills, Ed. Chapter 11, pp. 255–279. London: Jason Aronson. 2005).
Vida, J. & Molad, G. (2004). The Ferenczian dialogue: Psychoanalysis as a way of life. Free Associations, 11, 338–352.
Vida, J. & Molad, G. (2005). Notes on holding exile in the dialogue between analysts. In I. Ward & J. Szekacs-Weisz (Eds.), The lost childhood (pp. 279–286). London: Karnac.
Vida, J. (in process). I do not want you to like me, in Opening Up: Ten therapists write their lives, C. Clammer, Ed.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Address correspondence to Judith E. Vida, M.D., 8234 McGroarty Street, Sunland, CA 91040, USA.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vida, J.E. THE BLOOD CRISIS: A CHOICE BETWEEN DYING AND REARRANGING?. Am J Psychoanal 78, 402–411 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1057/s11231-018-9166-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s11231-018-9166-1