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Primary sourceBook1926

The Question of Lay Analysis

Sigmund Freud · 1926

Freud's 1926 book defending the right of non-doctors to practise psychoanalysis, written after a lay analyst was prosecuted.

Freud wrote this book himself, defending lay analysis and revealing his views on gender and sexuality.

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Front cover of the 1926 German edition of Freud's book 'Die Frage der Laienanalyse'. Yellow cloth cover with the author name 'Sigm. Freud' in dark blue capital letters at top and the title in larger blue letters below.
Sigmund Freud, Die Frage der Laienanalyse, 1926 German edition.

About this source

What it is

This is a 1926 book by Sigmund Freud, titled in German "Die Frage der Laienanalyse". The surviving cover shown here is from the 1926 German edition.

Why it matters

Freud wrote this book to defend the right of 'lay' people, those without a medical degree, to practise psychoanalysis. It followed the prosecution of Theodor Reik, a non-medical analyst, in Austria. The book also contains Freud's controversial description of adult female sexuality as a "dark continent" for psychology, a phrase often discussed today for what it reveals about the limits of his thinking.

Look closer

  • Why might Freud have felt it necessary to defend non-doctors practising psychoanalysis?
  • What does the phrase "dark continent" suggest about Freud's own blind spots?
  • How does a book written in response to one person's prosecution become part of a wider debate?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Sigmund Freud on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Sigmund Freud · 1923

Open book showing a title page on the right, with a boxed German title: 'Das Unbehagen in der Kultur, von Sigm. Freud, 1.-12. Tausend, 1930, Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag, Wien'. The left page is blank.Book

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Speech

Primary source

Sigmund Freud's Voice (BBC Broadcast Recording, 1938)

Sigmund Freud · 27 December 1938

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