BPS Core Textbooks Series

Developed in collaboration with the British Psychological Society

Chapter 16 – ‘An Ego that Only Desires Pleasure’: Psychoanalysis, Phallocentrism, and the Maternal Metaphor

Chapter Summary

The history of psychoanalysis, while groundbreaking, has traditionally been told predominantly by men, often obscuring or downplaying the profound contributions of women. This chapter re-tells that history, focusing specifically on the pivotal roles women played in shaping and, at times, radically transforming psychoanalytic theory and practice. We will explore how these women psychoanalysts reacted to, adapted, and ultimately challenged the prevailing paternal metaphor that dominated early Freudian thought. By centring the maternal metaphor, encompassing themes of relationality, attachment, development, empathy, and the embodied experience of care, this chapter argues that women brought crucial dimensions to the understanding of the psyche. Their work critiqued the limitations of a phallocentric framework and introduced nuanced perspectives on human development, psychopathology, and the therapeutic process itself, thereby re-gendering the very fabric of psychoanalytic inquiry and making it more inclusive and comprehensive.

Chapter 16 – Quiz

  • Chapter 16 – Flashcards

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  • Chapter 16 – Key Readings

    Angel, K. (2012). Contested psychiatric ontology and feminist critique: ‘Female Sexual Dysfunction’ and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. History of the Human Sciences, 25(4), 3-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695112456949 

    Borbely, A.F. (2008). Metaphor and psychoanalysis. In R. W. Gibbs (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of metaphor and thought (pp.412-424). Cambridge University Press. 

    Bueskens, P. (2014). Mothering and psychoanalysis: Clinical, Sociological and feminist perspectives. Demeter Press. 

    Copperman, J., & Chaney, S. (2024). The politics of recovery: Women’s mental health activism in the UK, 1986–2002, with a focus on Bristol Crisis Service for Women. History of the Human Sciences, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/09526951241289061 

    Haaken, J. (2008). When White Buffalo Calf Woman meets Oedipus on the road: Lakota Psychology, feminist psychoanalysis, and male violence. Theory & Psychology, 18(2), 195-208. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354307087881 

    Harris, B. (2021). Eugenics, social reform, and psychology: The careers of Isabelle Kendig. History of Psychology, 24(4), 350–376. https://doi.org/10.1037/hop0000200 

    Hubbard K. (2017) Queer signs: The women of the British projective test movement. Journal of the History of Behavioural Sciences, 53(3), 265–285. https://doi.org/10.1002/jhbs.21863 

    Johnston, E. & Johnson A. (2017) Balancing life and work by unbending gender: Early American women psychologists’ struggles and contributions. Journal of the History of the Behavioural Sciences, 53(3), 246–264. https://doi.org/10.1002/jhbs.21862 

    Kontopodis, M., & Jackowska, M. (2019). De-centring the psychology curriculum: Diversity, social justice, and psychological knowledge. Theory & Psychology, 29(4), 506-520. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354319858419 

    Launer, J. (2014). Sex versus survival: the life and ideas of Sabina Spielrein. Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd. 

    Rowold, K. (2024). Child psychology from Vienna to London: Charlotte Bühler, concepts of childhood, and parenting advice in interwar Britain. History of the Human Sciences, 38(1), 3-25. https://doi.org/10.1177/09526951241289028 

    Rutherford, A. (2018). Feminism, psychology, and the gendering of neoliberal subjectivity: From critique to disruption. Theory & Psychology, 28(5), 619-644. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354318797194 

    Spielrein, S. (1912/1994). Destruction as the cause of coming into being. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 39(2), 155–186. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-5922.1994.00155.x  Stone, A. (2011). Feminism, psychoanalysis, and maternal subjectivity. Taylor & Francis.

  • Chapter 16 – Reflective Questions

    1. How does the concept of ‘the Other’ help us reinterpret the voices of female analysands in early psychoanalysis? 
    2. What does it mean to treat a psychoanalytic case study as a ‘dialogic performance’ rather than a scientific report? 
    3. In what ways did Sabina Spielrein’s contributions challenge the dominant, male-authored psychoanalytic canon? 
    4. How do feminist critiques of the Oedipus complex destabilise Freudian theories of gender and development? 
    5. What power dynamics are at play in the relationship between analyst and analysand, especially when the analysand is culturally or politically marginalised?

  • Chapter 16 – Weblinks

    International Association for the Study of Dreams (Academic Resource)

    https://www.asdreams.org

    This webpage offers students an insight into the role of interpretation of dreams in psychoanalytic practises, providing many different resources for engaging with concepts like unconscious symbolism and the maternal unconscious.

    PEP-Web – Psychoanalytic Electronic Publishing (Educational Resource)

    https://pep-web.org

    This website is a searchable online database containing a huge database of major psychoanalytic texts, including work by Anna Freud, Melanie Klein and Joan Rivière. This gives the opportunity to engage deeper with the original texts discussed in this chapter of the textbook.

    Psychoanalytic Feminism – Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (Academic Resource)

    https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-psychoanalysis

    This webpage contains a detailed and accessible article discussing concept of Psychoanalytic Feminism, including its origins in the field and how this theory was developed throughout different psychological and psychoanalytic contexts.

    The Anna Freud Centre (Educational Resource)

    https://www.annafreud.org/about/our-history

    This section of the Anna Freud Centre (UK) website gives students information on the life and work of Anna Freud, explaining her legacy in the form of her developmental and therapeutic ideas.

    Luce Irigaray – Wikipedia Article (Educational Resource)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luce_Irigaray

    This webpage gives a detailed description of the life and work of Luce Irigaray, providing information on the influential works she published in the fields of psycholinguistics, psychoanalysis and philosophy to name a few.