Erika Fromm

Erika Fromm (born December 23, 1910 in Frankfurt am Main ; † May 26, 2003 in Chicago ), born in Oppenheim , was a psychologist and co-founder of hypnoanalysis .

Life

Erika Fromm grew up in Frankfurt am Main. As the daughter of a doctor, she developed an early interest in psychoanalysis and the writings of Sigmund Freud . She decided to pursue an academic career. At the University of Frankfurt she studied with Max Wertheimer , the father of Gestalt theory . In 1933 she received her doctorate as Dr. phil .

In the following four years she worked in the Netherlands as a research assistant and head of a research laboratory. In 1936 she got engaged to Paul Fromm, a wine merchant, whom she later married. In 1938, when the Nazis intensified the persecution of Jews, the couple emigrated to the USA. From 1939 to 1940 Fromm was a research assistant in the psychiatric department at the University of Chicago. From 1943 to 1948 she headed a rehabilitation program for war veterans. She did not join the university's faculty until 1961.

Erika Fromm was also editor of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis and co-editor of The Bulletin of the British Society of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis . From 1972 to 1973 she was president of the Psychological Hypnosis Division of the American Psychological Association ; 1971-1974 President of the American Board of Psychological Hypnosis ; 1975 to 1977 president of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis .

power

In her early work, Fromm questioned some of Sigmund Freud's discoveries and looked for ways to use hypnosis in a more effective way to help people than through psychoanalysis, which she viewed as therapy for the wealthy. As a mature clinician, theorist and researcher, she turned to the nature of human intuition , creativity, dreams and hypnosis.

Erika Fromm viewed hypnosis, like Freud's dream, as a path to the unconscious. When used properly, hypnosis can be more effective and quicker to work on problems than psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis and hypnosis have so far been characterized by mutual distrust, despite Freud's suggestion to reach the unconscious with hypnosis.

Fonts (selection)

• Erika Fromm & Ronald E. Shor (Eds.). Hypnosis: developments in research and new perspectives. 2nd ed. New Brunswick: AldineTransaction, 2009. ISBN 978-0-20236-262-5
• Stephen Kahn & Erika Fromm (Eds.). Changes in the therapist. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2001. ISBN 978-0-80582-382-0
• Erika Fromm & Michael R. Nash (Eds.). Contemporary hypnosis research. New York: Guilford Press, 1992. ISBN 978-0-89862-893-7
• Erika Fromm & Stephen Kahn. Self-hypnosis: the Chicago paradigm. New York: Guilford Press, 1990. ISBN 978-0-89862-341-3
• Daniel P. Brown & Erika Fromm. Hypnosis and behavioral medicine. Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1987. ISBN 978-0-89859-925-1
• Daniel P. Brown & Erika Fromm. Hypnotherapy and hypnoanalysis. Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1986. ISBN 978-0-89859-783-7
• Thomas M. French & Erika Fromm. Dream interpretation: a new approach. Madison, Conn .: International Universities Press, 1986. ISBN 0-82361-435-2
• Erika Fromm & Lenore Dumas Hartman. Intelligence, a dynamic approach. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1955.

Web links

• Literature by and about Erika Fromm in the catalog of the German National Library
• Psychology's Feminist Voices: Erika Fromm