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Rediscovering Pierre Janet: Trauma, Dissociation, and a New Context for Psychoanalysis
Rediscovering Pierre Janet explores the legacy left by the pioneering French psychologist, philosopher and psychotherapist (1859–1947), from the relationship of between Janet and Freud, to the influence of his dissociation theory on contemporary psychotraumatology. Divided into three parts, the first section places Janetian psychological analysis and psychoanalysis in context with the foundational tenets of psychoanalysis, from Freud to relational theory, before the book explores Janet’s work on trauma and dissociation and its influence on contemporary thinking. Part three presents several contemporary psychotherapy approaches directly influenced by Janetian theory, including the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder and dissociative identity disorder. Rediscovering Pierre Janet draws together eminent scholars from a variety of backgrounds, each of whom has developed Janetian constructs according to his or her own theoretical and clinical models. It provides an integrative approach that offers contemporary perspectives on Janet’s work, and will be of significant interest to practicing psychoanalysts, psychiatrists and psychotherapists, especially those treating trauma-related dissociative disorders, as well as researchers with an interest in psychological trauma.
248 pages, Hardcover
Published April 10, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 16, 2023
Pierre Janet was a French psychologist and philosopher who made significant early contributions to psychoanalysis, and more broadly to the field of psychology and psychotherapy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Janet is best known for his work in the areas of dissociation and trauma.
Dissociation refers to the separation or fragmentation of cognitive and emotional processes, often occurring as a result of traumatic experiences. Janet believed that traumatic events could lead to the formation of separate mental states or sub-personalities (and for the record so do I) which he called dissociated states (and we still do).
Anyway…
Janet’s work on trauma and dissociation laid the foundation for modern understandings of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociative disorders.
Janet’s ideas were influential in the development of psychoanalysis and were highly influential on both Freud and Jung.
However…
Janet caught major beef with Freud, and (like Sandor Ferenczi and so many talented/important others) pretty much got buried in the feud.
Dude, don’t feud (or in any way fuck) with Freud.
Feud is practically the middle of the guys name.
Just sayin’
Janet remained all but forgotten until more recent interest in PTSD, and even more recent interest in complex PTSD (CPTSD) lead to a large scale, full on rediscovery of his work.
Hence, the title of this book.
Janet proposed a three-phase model of trauma therapy.
Phase (1) Stabilization: focuses on establishing safety, stabilization, and building rapport (therapeutic alliance).
Phase (2) Reprocessing: involves addressing, working through and otherwise resolving the traumatic experiences directly.
Phase (3) Reintegration: focuses on helping the individual reintegrate into their life and establish resilience, post-traumatic growth and as such, a new sense of self and possibility.
If all of that sounds… we’ll… sort of obvious…
Than thank Janet for that.
Janet also developed a concept called “psychic economy” involving the wise reallocation and management of mental energy or resources.
According to Janet, individuals have limited mental resources, and emphasized the importance of balancing and optimizing the allocation of mental energy.
Basically.
Janet was prescribing what we now refer to as self care, involving healthy sleep, diet, exercise and relationship to self and other.
Janet also considered movement and the body to be part and parcel to mental health. He integrated the somatic approach into psychotherapy circa 100 years before anyone else.
So there’s that.
Additionally, Janet thought it was important to remove the patient from the toxic family/social system and bring them into a residential therapeutic milieu. So he’s kind of the god father of rehab.
Again.
If all of that sounds obvious.
You can thank Janet.
Particularly in contrast to Freud and Jung.
In fact.
These concepts are so fundamental to contemporary psychotherapy, and so complimentary (or rather primary) to Freudian and Jungian psychotherapy, that Janet should be rightly considered equal if not foundational (full OG) in that pantheon.
Great book.
4/5 stars ⭐️
Why not 5/5?
No specific reason, other than the book didn’t ROCK my world. As such, although it’s really really good, it is not my first recommendation (even on the topic of Janet).
Before reading this, I recommend reading Henri F. Ellenberger‘s ABSOLUTE 5/5⭐️ masterpiece, The Discovery of the Unconscious: The History and Evolution of Dynamic Psychiatry which covers Janet in a much richer historical context.
After that.
If you just have to have more of that Janet-nay (pronounced jah-naynay), than pick this one up.
🤩
Janet is best known for his work in the areas of dissociation and trauma.
Dissociation refers to the separation or fragmentation of cognitive and emotional processes, often occurring as a result of traumatic experiences. Janet believed that traumatic events could lead to the formation of separate mental states or sub-personalities (and for the record so do I) which he called dissociated states (and we still do).
Anyway…
Janet’s work on trauma and dissociation laid the foundation for modern understandings of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociative disorders.
Janet’s ideas were influential in the development of psychoanalysis and were highly influential on both Freud and Jung.
However…
Janet caught major beef with Freud, and (like Sandor Ferenczi and so many talented/important others) pretty much got buried in the feud.
Dude, don’t feud (or in any way fuck) with Freud.
Feud is practically the middle of the guys name.
Just sayin’
Janet remained all but forgotten until more recent interest in PTSD, and even more recent interest in complex PTSD (CPTSD) lead to a large scale, full on rediscovery of his work.
Hence, the title of this book.
Janet proposed a three-phase model of trauma therapy.
Phase (1) Stabilization: focuses on establishing safety, stabilization, and building rapport (therapeutic alliance).
Phase (2) Reprocessing: involves addressing, working through and otherwise resolving the traumatic experiences directly.
Phase (3) Reintegration: focuses on helping the individual reintegrate into their life and establish resilience, post-traumatic growth and as such, a new sense of self and possibility.
If all of that sounds… we’ll… sort of obvious…
Than thank Janet for that.
Janet also developed a concept called “psychic economy” involving the wise reallocation and management of mental energy or resources.
According to Janet, individuals have limited mental resources, and emphasized the importance of balancing and optimizing the allocation of mental energy.
Basically.
Janet was prescribing what we now refer to as self care, involving healthy sleep, diet, exercise and relationship to self and other.
Janet also considered movement and the body to be part and parcel to mental health. He integrated the somatic approach into psychotherapy circa 100 years before anyone else.
So there’s that.
Additionally, Janet thought it was important to remove the patient from the toxic family/social system and bring them into a residential therapeutic milieu. So he’s kind of the god father of rehab.
Again.
If all of that sounds obvious.
You can thank Janet.
Particularly in contrast to Freud and Jung.
In fact.
These concepts are so fundamental to contemporary psychotherapy, and so complimentary (or rather primary) to Freudian and Jungian psychotherapy, that Janet should be rightly considered equal if not foundational (full OG) in that pantheon.
Great book.
4/5 stars ⭐️
Why not 5/5?
No specific reason, other than the book didn’t ROCK my world. As such, although it’s really really good, it is not my first recommendation (even on the topic of Janet).
Before reading this, I recommend reading Henri F. Ellenberger‘s ABSOLUTE 5/5⭐️ masterpiece, The Discovery of the Unconscious: The History and Evolution of Dynamic Psychiatry which covers Janet in a much richer historical context.
After that.
If you just have to have more of that Janet-nay (pronounced jah-naynay), than pick this one up.
🤩
December 9, 2024
So good it might even make you want to learn to read French (a huge majority of the very prolific psychiatrist’s writing has not yet been translated into English)!
Elizabeth Howell’s The Dissociative Mind in Psychoanalysis first whet my appetite for this book, and it did not disappoint! It’s unbelievable how much of Janet’s prescient perspectives on trauma and healing in general and complex trauma and dissociation in particular are regurgitated by current mainstream authors and theorists (often without attribution or even knowledge - here again due to a lack of accessibility for English readers). I need to read the chapter on Dissociative Disorders again like 10 times to wrap my head around it, but I’m not mad about that.
Elizabeth Howell’s The Dissociative Mind in Psychoanalysis first whet my appetite for this book, and it did not disappoint! It’s unbelievable how much of Janet’s prescient perspectives on trauma and healing in general and complex trauma and dissociation in particular are regurgitated by current mainstream authors and theorists (often without attribution or even knowledge - here again due to a lack of accessibility for English readers). I need to read the chapter on Dissociative Disorders again like 10 times to wrap my head around it, but I’m not mad about that.
October 6, 2025
Due to how this was written there is a lot of redundancy going over very basic things such as terminology. You'd think that the papers would be a bit more advanced with an introduction on the basics at the front and an exploration into deeper subjeects. Instead we get a book that is mostly filled with the basics and dives barely into much of anything else at all except, on some rare occasions, how the ideas of old are validated, worked on, or conducive to (semi)modern analysis/research/work.
This might be great as an "introduction", but if you've read any Pierre Janet this doesn't expand horizons, give you a greater view, nor anything of the sort. There are better books on Pierre Janet and his own works aren't complicated enough to warrant a glorified pamphlet. As such this is a 2 because I can't find a reason to recommend this to anyone as it's not deep nor wide enough to fill a gap left by other sources.
This might be great as an "introduction", but if you've read any Pierre Janet this doesn't expand horizons, give you a greater view, nor anything of the sort. There are better books on Pierre Janet and his own works aren't complicated enough to warrant a glorified pamphlet. As such this is a 2 because I can't find a reason to recommend this to anyone as it's not deep nor wide enough to fill a gap left by other sources.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews