Status Updates From A People's History of Psych...

Alright nerds, I've been too harsh on psychoanalysis. Repression as the introjection of oppression is radical af. There're surprising connections between psychoanalysis and later somatic movements. Wilhelm Reich and Franz Fanon's understanding of spontaneous bodily acts (dancing, etc) as the processing of trauma. But also Fanon exhibits a deeper scepticism that such catharsis can heal us without systemic change.

This is pretty wild. Ferenczi, one of the early theorists in psychoanalysis, was already developing compassion-focused, patient-led, relational psychology in the early 1900s, connecting his patients' mental illnesses to political oppression and social inequality. Freud encouraged such developments, until the 1930s when he began burying those who disagreed with him. Fuck late-stage Freud. Yung-lean Freud is okay tho.

Time to see if my hatred of Freud and his burying of all other trauma therapists under his perversely polymorphous ego is warranted ✌️