"A reputational high-water mark in the postwar period was followed by a collapse, at least in scientific circles, but there are signs of newfound respectability for his ideas, including among those who once rejected him outright. Mark Solms's latest book, a wide-ranging and engrossing defence of Freud as a scientist and a healer, is a striking contribution to the re-evaluation of a thinker whom WH Auden described as no more a person now but a whole climate of opinion."
"He is a neuroscientist, expert in the neuropsychology of dreams, the author of several books on the relationship between brain and consciousness, a practising psychoanalyst and the editor of the 24-volume revised standard edition of Freud's complete works. He is also a wonderfully witty and lucid writer. I read The Only Cure through the lens of its bold perhaps too bold title."
Nabokov dismissed Freud as the 'Viennese witch doctor', a view shared by many for decades. Freud's postwar reputation peaked and then collapsed within scientific circles, though recent signs point to renewed respectability. A contemporary defence highlights Freud as a scientist and healer and emphasizes neuroscientific credentials and psychoanalytic practice supporting his ideas. Two central claims are offered: psychoanalysis produces lasting, post-treatment benefits, and psychoanalysis uniquely cures by addressing underlying causes while drugs often lose effect after discontinuation. Clinical trial overviews are cited to support these claims, but some overviews conflate diverse psychological, educational and behavioural treatments, complicating attribution of benefits specifically to psychoanalysis.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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