The Power of a Kiss

Abstract

Freud saw two young women, Katharina and Margarethe, as patients. One was at the start, and one was at the end, of his working life as an analyst. In both single sessions, sexuality was the key area that needed addressing, consciously and unconsciously. Both had experienced trauma. In each case Freud affirmed her as an individual adult person who could acknowledge her sexuality. In the case of Margarethe, where we have more details available, Freud encouraged her to make sexuality an inclusive part of her nature, beginning with a kiss on the cinema screen. He accepted her for who she was, including powerful sexual undercurrents, and this enabled her to feel transformed.

Keywords:

• trauma
• sexuality
• young woman
• kiss
• Katharina

Notes

¹ Swales (1988) offered a different, and challenging, account of Freud’s encounter with Katharina.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alistair Ross

Alistair Ross, PhD, MBACP (Snr. Accred.), FHEA, is the first ever Associate Professor in Psychotherapy at Oxford University, Director of Psychodynamic Studies (a 4-year psychodynamic training program in the Department of Continuing Education), and Dean of Kellogg College (Oxford’s largest college and specifically for part-time postgraduate students). Dr Ross’s research focuses on spirituality, psychotherapy, and psychoanalysis; the British analyst Harry Guntrip; and the Swiss analyst Oskar Pfister. His most recent book is a short introductory biography on Freud (2016), written in order to make Freud accessible and interesting to a nonspecialist audience.