Poul Bjerre (1876-1964)

Poul Bjerre was the pioneering psychoanalyst, a pupil of Freud, who
first brought psychoanalysis to Sweden. His foremost work is Död och
Förnyelse (Death and Renewal). He does not belong to the thinking
type, but is markedly intuitive. Hence the nebulous and "theosophic"
character of his work. He was a prolific writer and belongs to the
neurotic type (at least, that's what his biographers think). He
departed from Freud in that he came to regard moral incitaments equal
to the drives. (I'm not certain, but I think he declared this
standpoint at the same congress where Jung made his theoretical
departure.) Bjerre was, before and during the war, a fierce critic of
Hitlerism.

Although his followers today are very scarce, historians of
psychoanalysis ought to give him some more attention. In his personal
meetings with Freud he tried to convey some of his own notions, and
they also corresponded by letter. The Freud-Bjerre (and the
Jung-Bjerre) correspondence is kept at The Royal Library, Stockholm.
Bjerre's most important notion, according to himself, is the recurrent
circle of "death and renewal" in psychic life. Another important
factor was coercion, and the inflicted necessities in life.
Reportedly, Freud had problems understanding what he meant.

If we open Freud's "Das Unbehagen in der Kultur" at ch. 6, we can see
that, at this stage, Freud has adopted Bjerre's notion of Death and
Renewal in its entirety, for it is my belief that Bjerre has
influenced these thoughts. Freud attests to the repetitious character
of the life of the drives, and rehearses the notion of the death
drive, which represents destruction, and its opposite, eros, which
represents renewal. All this corresponds to Bjerre's idea of the
recurrence of death and renewal. Freud testifies to his own
disapproval when this concept first appeared in psychoanalytic
literature, but now he had come to accept its importance both in the
inner life, and in the destruction directed outwards. To Bjerre, the
circle of destruction and renewal was to carry on in personal life, in
order to keep it from manifesting in outward destruction.

Bjerre's technique of therapy came to depart markedly from Freud's.
Generally, Bjerre adopted a much higher pace. Therapy with each
patient did not last as long as in traditional psychoanalysis. His
idea was to commence a self-healing process, and he often sent the
patient on his way with a gift, namely a book authored by himself
(this reminds me a little of Dr. Phil). The moral incentive was
important to him. A woman, who had come to him complaining that her
marriage was in an erotic deadlock, was urged to stay in the marriage,
and the moral incentives were emphasized.

Bjerre's "Death and Renewal" at Abebooks.com:
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&an=Poul+Bjerre&y=3&tn=Death&x=45

Mats Winther

Although Bjerre maintained a critical attitude toward psychoanalysis he
introduced it in Sweden in 1911 and defended it sternly, and there was
no lack of opposition. Freud, in a personal meeting, challenged his
notions
of morality and questioned whether he wouldn't indulge his inclinations
with a hotel maid, if an opportunity arises. But Bjerre answered: No,
no, I
would never do such a thing! At the 1913 Munich conference, however,
Freud introduced him to Lou Andreas-Salomé, with whom he had a brief but
stormy and passionate affair. As Bjerre was a married man, I suppose
Freud
had proved his point.

The strong force of morality can also have a very damaging effect, and
Bjerre
gives several examples of this, e.g., people whose vitality have been
impaired
by moral complexes. I can't read those Bjerre books that are
"theosophic" in
style, although I might have given up too easily. His scientific books
are quite
readable, however. His Natural System of Dreams is really ambitious. He
classifies dreams according to his own system, and I haven't seen
anything
like this elsewhere. His understanding of dreams is non-dogmatic, and he
often understands dreams as attempts at self-healing.

Mats Winther

Although Bjerre maintained a critical attitude toward psychoanalysis he
introduced it in Sweden in 1911 and defended it sternly, and there was
no lack of opposition. Freud, in a personal meeting, challenged his
notions
of morality and questioned whether he wouldn't indulge his inclinations
with a hotel maid, if an opportunity arises. But Bjerre answered: No,
no, I
would never do such a thing! At the 1913 Munich conference, however,
Freud introduced him to Lou Andreas-Salomé, with whom he had a brief but
stormy and passionate affair. As Bjerre was a married man, I suppose
Freud
had proved his point.

The strong force of morality can also have a very damaging effect, and
Bjerre
gives several examples of this, e.g., people whose vitality have been
impaired
by moral complexes. I can't read those Bjerre books that are
"theosophic" in
style, although I might have given up too easily. His scientific books
are quite
readable, however. His Natural System of Dreams is really ambitious. He
classifies dreams according to his own system, and I haven't seen
anything
like this elsewhere. His understanding of dreams is non-dogmatic, and he
often understands dreams as attempts at self-healing.

Mats Winther