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Erich Fromm Psychotherapy and Methods of Investigation
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Erich Fromm's Psychotherapy and Methods of Investigation
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Psychoanalysis Since the beginning, Fromm was trained as an orthodox Freudian analyst but became
bored with standard analytic techniques.
Compared with Freud, Fromm was much more concerned with the interpersonal aspects
of a therapeutic encounter. He believed that the aim of therapy is for patients to come to
know themselves.
Because accurate communication is essential to therapeutic growth, the therapist must
relate “as one human being to another with utter concentration and utter sincerity.”
Although transference and even countertransference may exist within this relationship,
the important point is that two real human beings are involved with one another.
Transference occurs when a person redirects some of their feelings or desires for another
person to an entirely different person.
Meanwhile, countertransference refers to the attitude that the therapist develops towards a
client in response to their behavior.
As part of his attempt to achieve shared communication, Fromm asked patients to reveal
their dreams. He believed that dreams, as well as fairy tales and myths, are expressed in
symbolic language—the only universal language humans have developed.
Not all dream symbols, however, are universal. Many symbols have several meanings
because of the variety of experiences that are connected with them.
Ex. Fire may symbolize warmth and home to some people but death and destruction to
others. Similarly, the sun may represent a threat to desert people, but growth and life to
people in cold climates.
Fromm believed that therapists should not try to be too scientific in understanding a
patient.
Fromm’s Methods of Investigation
A.) Social Character in a Mexican Village
Beginning in the late 1950s and extending into the mid-1960s, Fromm and a
group of psychologists, psychoanalysts, anthropologists, physicians, and
statisticians studied social character in Chiconcuac, a Mexican village about 50
miles south of Mexico City.
After living among the villagers and gaining their acceptance, the research team
discovered several character types possessed by the villagers:
1.) Nonproductive-Receptive – People of this orientation tended to look
up to others and devoted much energy in trying to please those whom
they regarded as superiors.
2.) Productive-Hoarding – People of this type were hardworking,
productive, and independent. Hoarding, rather than consuming, was
essential to their lives.
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