Janet and Freud: revealing the roots of dynamic psychiatry.
OBJECTIVE
Interest in the work of Pierre Janet is presently undergoing a scholarly revival and, in the process, his contribution to dynamic psychiatry is increasingly being recognised. This article compares and contrasts Pierre Janet's early studies on hysteria and the neuroses with those of Freud.


METHODS
The study surveys original works by Janet and Freud and contemporary scholarly exegeses. It particularly focuses on ideation and memory, consciousness and dissociation, psychological trauma, the self, therapeutic influence, and treatment by integration versus abreaction.


RESULTS
Grounds are presented for either preferring Janet's notions to Freud's or for integrating them.


CONCLUSIONS
It is concluded that a number of Janet's contributions to psychopathology and psychotherapy, particularly in the field of dissociative disorders, deserve further exploration and application.
Northpark Hospital, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.
P
P
Brown
M B
MB
Macmillan
R
R
Meares
O
O
Van der Hart
D005619:Freudian Theory / Q000266:history; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007046:Hysteria / Q000266:history*; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000266:history*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000266:history*; D011572:Psychoanalysis / Q000266:history*; D011582:Psychological Theory