Dreams and other manifestations of the unconscious

In 1905 I taught a course in psychiatry at the University of Zurich and in the same
year became head physician of the University clinic. I held this position four
years, but in 1909 resigned - I just not enough time.
Because of extensive private practice I already could not cope with their responsibilities
in the clinic, but in the position of Privat-docent remained until 1913. I read
the course of psychopathology and Freudian foundations of psychoanalysis and, in addition,
the psychology of primitives. Those were my major subjects. The first semester I
relegated mainly to the lectures on hypnosis and the theories of Janet and Flournoy, then
came to the fore problems of Freudian psychoanalysis.
 In lectures on hypnosis I gave any of my patients, which usually
were presented to students. One such case is very good to meremember.
 Once I was approached by a very religious elderly woman (she was
58 years). She came on crutches, could hardly walk on them with
maids. For seventeen years she suffered from paralysis. I made the woman sit in
a comfortable chair and asked to tell about yourself. She began to speak,
and the whole story of her disease unfolded before me in the tiniest
detail. Finally I stopped her: "Enough, we have little time.
We will now hypnosis session". I barely had time to utter these words, she
I closed my eyes and fell into a deep trance - without  any hypnosis! I was extremely
amazed, but didn't want to interrupt the patient who was talking, incessantly, about their
dreams, very expressive. Their importance became clear to me only after a few
years. Then I decided that this kind of nonsense. The situation was becoming
more awkward, because in front of me were students.
 An attempt to awaken the patient after half an hour could not - she doesn't
woke up. I was seriously afraid that your questions have provoked
patient latent psychosis. After only 10 minutes I managed to Wake her up. I
it was an enormous effort to conceal from students their the excitement. When a woman
came to, her head was spinning, she was confused. I rushed
to reassure her, "I'm your doctor, all right." In response she exclaimed, "And I
now healthy!" Dropping the crutches, she unassisted got on
feet. I tried as calmly as possible to ask the students: "Now you
see what they are capable of hypnosis!" Though actually I had no idea that
same has happened.
 It was one of the experiences that made me abandon hypnosis. Nothing
still not understanding, I saw that the woman really healed and was
absolutely happy. Waiting for the onset of recurrence at the latest 24
hours, I asked her to contact me. But the pain did not recur. And I
I had to admit that she has recovered.
 On the first lecture of the summer semester of the following year she came again,
this time with complaints of severe back pain, which, according to her, began
recently. Naturally, I have an idea, whether it is connected with
the beginning of my studies. Looks like she read a newspaper ad about the lectures. I
asked when the pain started and what caused it. It is not
remembered nothing certain, and nothing could not explain. Finally I
still managed to figure out that the pain actually started on the very day and
when the newspaper ad caught her eye. It confirmed my
suspicion, but I was still not sure of the cause of her unexpected
healing. I hypnotized her again - that is it again, as then,
spontaneously fell into a trance - and then the pain disappeared.
 After class I stayed to talk more with her. It turned out
that her son was suffering from dementia and kept in the clinic, in my office.
I never knew because it bore the name of her second husband, the son
was a child from his first marriage. Other children she had, and she
naturally, hoped that her son is talented and will succeed in life. For
it was a terrible blow when in early childhood he was found to have mental
disease. I was just a young doctor and embody her
it seemed that everything that she dreamed of finding in the son. Her insatiable desire to be
the mother of a prominent person focused on me - she mentally made
me your son, talking about his miraculous recovery urbi et orbi
(the city and the world. - lat.).
 And it so happened that I acquired thanks to her popularity as a physician and
acquired the first private patient, as the story passed from mouth
mouth. So, my psychotherapy practice has begun that in
the imagination of a loving mother, I ranked her crazy son! All of these
mechanisms I tried to explain to her, and she treated it with great
understanding. Relapses it would never happen again.
 This was my first real therapeutic experience and you may say,
my first psychoanalysis. I remember this woman and our conversation, she was
pretty smart and felt extraordinary gratitude for part in her fate
and the fate of her son. Ultimately, it helped her.
 At first, I used hypnosis in private practice, but soon abandoned
it because didn't want to act blindly, at random. Never
it was to say how long the improvement, and internally I resisted this
uncertainty. In addition, I did not like to decide for myself, what should
to do patient, I prefer to learn from him, where are his
own inclinations. But this required a thorough analysis
dreams and other manifestations of the unconscious.
 In 1904 - 1905 years I've created at the clinic, the laboratory of experimental
psychopathology. With a group of students I studied mental reaction (such as:
Association, etc.). Worked with me and Franz Riklin senior. Ludwig
Binswanger then prepared his doctoral thesis about the relationship associative
experiments with psihoorganiceskie effects, and I work "On the essence
psychological diagnosis". Worked with us and the Americans, among them
Carl Petersen and Charles Ricker published in scientific American
magazines.