On the Freud Watch: Public Memoirs

This book opens and closes with autobiographical pieces, but as a whole it reflects an intensely personal account of how Paul Roazen became known as a "controversial" figure within psychoanalysis. The Introduction deals with Roazen's experiences attending clinical case conferences at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center in 1964-65, and what he learned about psychoanalytic psychology there. One chapter deals with a particular psychological explanation that his friend Charles Rycroft offered for why psychoanalysts are characteristically anti-historical. Another chapter discusses Roazen's take on the problem of Freud's analysis of his daughter Anna, a matter Roazen first brought to light in 1969. The book concludes with a discussion of how Roazen thinks Freud's concept of neurosis was intended to convey his understanding of a specifically human privilege. The short epilogue closes with a personal account of the significance of a small beach in Roazen's childhood.