Episode 108: Standard Edition Volume 2 Part 4: Studies on Hysteria, Part IV: Frau Emmy von N. Teaser episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 19, 2025 · 19 MIN

Episode 108: Standard Edition Volume 2 Part 4: Studies on Hysteria, Part IV: Frau Emmy von N. Teaser

from Ordinary Unhappiness · host Patrick & Abby

Subscribe to get access to the full episode, the episode reading list, and all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/OrdinaryUnhappinessAbby and Patrick examine the case study of “Frau Emmy von N.” From the perspective of both clinical technique and the history of psychoanalysis, it is primarily significant as an artifact from when Freud was still thinking in terms of associationist psychology and using hypnosis in treatment sessions. In terms of narrative, it seems, at least superficially, to be just another example of “hysterical neurosis” as encountered in the story of Anna O. Yet as Abby and Patrick discuss, the case of Emmy Von N. in fact suggests some pivotal shifts in Freud’s thinking, from a “subconscious” to a dynamic unconscious, and from performing interpretations to listening to patients talk in their own terms and along their own timelines. And the real story behind the pseudonym Freud gave to Fanny Moser, née Baroness Fanny Louise von Sulzer-Wart, the richest woman in Central Europe, is actually a wild tale of social scandal, intergenerational loss and reparation, and possibly even True Crime.Sources include: Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen, Freud’s Patients: A Book of LivesPhillip M. Bromberg, “Hysteria, Dissociation, and Cure: Emmy von N Revisited,” Psychoanalytic Dialogues 6:1 (1996)Henri Ellenberger, “A Critical Study of ‘Emmy von N.’ with New Documents,” in Beyond the Unconscious: Essays of Henri F. Ellenberger in the History of PsychiatryElse Pappenheim, “Freud and Gilles de la Tourette: Diagnostic Speculations on ‘Frau Emmy von N,’” International Review of Psychoanalysis 7:265 (1980)Have you noticed that Freud is back? Got questions about psychoanalysis? Or maybe you’ve traversed the fantasy and lived to tell the tale? Leave us a voicemail! (646) 450-0847  A podcast about psychoanalysis, politics, pop culture, and the ways we suffer now. New episodes on Saturdays. Follow us on social media:  Linktree: https://linktr.ee/OrdinaryUnhappiness Twitter: @UnhappinessPod Instagram: @OrdinaryUnhappiness Patreon: patreon.com/OrdinaryUnhappiness Theme song: Formal Chicken - Gnossienne No. 1 https://open.spotify.com/album/2MIIYnbyLqriV3vrpUTxxO Provided by Fruits Music

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Subscribe to get access to the full episode, the episode reading list, and all premium episodes! www.patreon.com/OrdinaryUnhappiness Abby and Patrick examine the case study of “Frau Emmy von N.” From the perspective of both clinical technique and the history of psychoanalysis, it is primarily significant as an artifact from when Freud was still thinking in terms of associationist psychology and using hypnosis in treatment sessions. In terms of narrative, it seems, at least superficially, to b...

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Episode 108: Standard Edition Volume 2 Part 4: Studies on Hysteria, Part IV: Frau Emmy von N. Teaser

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