John Kerr's 'A Dangerous Method: The Story of Jung, Freud, and Sabina Spielrein' Book Review

A Dangerous Method is an interesting film but the book of the same title reveals much more of the complex triangle between Freud, Jung, and Spielrein. In fact, it delves much more into the history that was almost lost had it not been for discovered papers belonging to Spielrein. This is probably the most intriguing aspect of the story, that it was almost forgotten, and a woman’s role in the founding of psychoanalysis almost buried with her. There are some questions that one must ponder in reading this book. Was Spielrein inventing much of her affair with Jung? Or did Jung take much from Spielrein’s wisdom and make it his own in a quest for fame? The answer will never be known but it’s clear that the breaking point in Freud and Jung’s relationship was Spielrein.

Jung’s first patient as an analyst was an 18-year-old Russian hysteric named Sabina Spielrein. Her fixation on punishment and other bodily functions seemed to be the basis for her acting out. Jung, then under Freud’s mentorship, began to address the inner conflicts of his patient before crossing the boundaries of his profession. Spielrein did get better and in doing so began the affair that ripped apart Freud and Jung. Years later, Spelrein would become Freud’s colleague and one of the first female analysts in the 20th century. Her role in the history of psychoanalysis places her in a unique position to be seen as a pivotal figure in the theories of both Freud and Jung.

Were Sabina’s patient files ripe with material for what later became two distinct schools of thought? Were the fathers of modern psychoanalysis driven apart over a patient? How much of Sabina’s personal notes are even true rather than the ramblings of a hysteric? Sadly, Sabina died in a concentration camp in 1941 and left no known heirs or proof that she was truly involved with the young Jung. A Dangerous Method is an attempt to uncover what its author could have known about what happened in 1907 Vienna and its impact on Freud and Jung’s careers.