{{Short description|German physician and psychoanalyst (1866–1934)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} '''Georg Walther Groddeck''' ({{IPA|de|ˈɡʁɔdɛk|lang}}; 13 October 1866 – 10 June 1934) was a German physician and writer regarded as a pioneer of psychosomatic medicine.
== Early life == Groddeck was born in Bad Kösen, Saxony, to a Lutheran family.{{sfn|Hoffman|2011|p=379}} His works before World War I wholly accepted eugenics and Völkisch movement ideology.{{sfn | Fuechtner | 2011 | p=85}}
== Selected publications == In 1902, Groddeck published his first book, ''Ein Frauenproblem'', dedicated to his wife; in 1909, the book ''Hin zu Gottnatur'' was released.
In 1913, he published {{lang|de|Nasamecu. Der gesunde und der kranke Mensch}} (The healthy and the sick person), where "nasamecu" stands for the Latin motto "''natura sanat, medicus curat''". Here, Groddeck offers his understanding of what happens to the bones, muscles, the importance of food, talk about blood circulation, the eyes, the whole human body and what happens to this body when it obeys the orders of Isso (unconscious). According to these orders, a person becomes "healthy" or "sick."{{citation needed|date=September 2011}}
In 1921, Groddeck published his first psychoanalytic novel, ''Der Seelensucher. Ein psychoanalytischer Roman'' (The Soul-Seeker). An English translation remains unpublished.<ref>Christian Darnton (Baron von Schunck, 1905–1981) became a Groddeck disciple and translated the novel into English, but "his typescript remains repressed at The University of Essex in The Georg Groddeck Archive of Oscar Kollerstrom." {{cite journal |first1=Greg |last1=Wilkinson |first2=Andrew |last2=Plant |year=2022 |title=Georg Groddeck: the first psychoanalytical novel, the Soul-Seeker, and a musical mystery in Essex–psychiatry in literature |journal=The British Journal of Psychiatry |volume=221 |issue=6 |pages=731 |doi=10.1192/bjp.2022.65 |pmid=36403630 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/98FF2296FD1C3299662BCA84790EA5FF/S0007125022000654a.pdf/div-class-title-georg-groddeck-the-first-psychoanalytical-novel-span-class-italic-the-soul-seeker-span-and-a-musical-mystery-in-essex-psychiatry-in-literature-div.pdf}}</ref> After reading it and promoting its publication Freud commended Groddeck to the Berlin Psychoanalytic Association.<ref>Freud/Groddeck correspondence in {{cite book |first=Georg |last=Groddeck |title=Schicksal, das bin ich selbst |trans-title=Fate, that's me |publisher=Limes Verlag |date=1970}}</ref> Alfred Polgar in his comprehensive review (''Berliner Tageblatt'', 20 December 1921) found "nothing comparable among German books" and felt reminded of Cervantes, Swift and Rabelais.<ref>cited in {{cite magazine |last=Luetkehaus |first=Ludger |url=http://www.zeit.de/1998/40/Der_Nabel_der_Welt |title=Der Nabel der Welt |trans-title=The Navel of the World |author-link=Ludger Luetkehaus |magazine=Die Zeit |date=24 September 1998}}</ref>
In 1923, he published ''Das Buch vom Es'', an unusual work in which each chapter is in the form of a letter to a (fictional) girlfriend addressed as "my dear".<ref>{{cite book |last=Groddeck |first=Georg |date=1951 |title=The World of Man |translator-first=V. M. E. |translator-last=Collins |location=London |publisher=Vision}}</ref>
==Association with Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis== In his introduction to the 1949 English version<ref name="Groddeck">Georg Groddeck, ''The Book of the It'', Vision Press (1979 ed), {{ISBN|0-85478-234-6}}</ref> of Groddeck's ''Das Buch vom Es'' (1923),<ref>{{cite book |last=Groddeck |first=Georg |title=Das Buch vom Es. Psychoanalytische Briefe an eine Freundin |trans-title= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lpYXAAAAYAAJ |publisher=Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag |location=Vienna |year=1923 |language=de}} [https://archive.org/details/b29815101 The Book of the It]</ref> Lawrence Durrell comments that Groddeck is often mistaken for an orthodox disciple of Sigmund Freud. He goes on to say "Groddeck was the only analyst whose views had some effect on Freud", and "while he accepts and employs much of the heavy equipment of the master, he is separated forever from Freud by an entirely different conception of the constitution and functioning of the human psyche."<ref>Durrell's introduction originally appeared as an essay, Number VI in the series "Studies in Genius," ''Horizon'' magazine (London), Vol. XVII No. 102, edited by Cyril Connolly, June 1948.</ref>
Freud mentions Groddeck in ''The Ego and the Id'',<ref name="Sigmund Freud">{{cite book |author-link=Sigmund Freud |last=Freud |first=Sigmund |date=1923 |title=Das Ich und das Es |url=https://archive.org/details/Freud_1923_Das_Ich_und_das_Es_k |publisher=Internationaler Psycho-analytischer Verlag |location=Leipzig, Vienna, and Zurich |language=de}} English translation, {{cite book |title=The Ego and the Id |translator-link=Joan Riviere |translator-first=Joan |translator-last=Riviere |publisher=Hogarth Press and Institute of Psycho-analysis |location=London, UK |date=1927}} Revised for {{cite book |title=The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud |editor-link=James Strachey |editor-first=James |editor-last=Strachey |publisher=W.W. Norton and Company |location=New York, NY |date=1961}}</ref> crediting him with giving a name to what Freud had already given a local habitation, to wit, the Id.
<blockquote> Now I think we shall gain a great deal by following the suggestion of a writer who, from personal motives, vainly asserts that he has nothing to do with the rigours of pure science. I am speaking of Georg Groddeck, who is never tired of insisting that what we call our ego behaves essentially passively in life, and that, as he expresses it, we are "lived" by unknown and uncontrollable forces. We have all had impressions of the same kind, even though they may not have overwhelmed us to the exclusion of all others, and we need feel no hesitation in finding a place for Groddeck's discovery in the structure of science. I propose to take it into account by calling the entity which starts out from the system ''Pcpt.'' and begins by being ''Pcs.'' the "ego", and by following Groddeck in calling the other part of the mind, into which this entity extends and which behaves as though it were ''Ucs.'', the "id". (Freud 1927/1961, 13). </blockquote>
Groddeck eventually had acrimonious disagreement with Freud about the definition and limitations of the ''It''/''Id''/{{lang|de|das Es}}.{{sfn|Fuechtner|2011|p=73,82}}{{efn|Freud never used the terms ''ego'' and ''id'' in his writings. These were translations of his German terms {{lang|de|das Ich}} and {{lang|de|das Es}}, which were common German words for "The I" and "The it" {{harv|Mills|2010|p=89}}.}} Groddeck regarded the ego as an extension or a mask for the id, whereas Freud regarded them as separate constructs.{{sfn|Fuechtner|2011|p=73}}
In contrast to Freud, Groddeck was primarily engaged with the treatment of chronically ill patients. Groddeck is considered by many as a founder of psychosomatic medicine – his reservations against strict science and orthodox medicine made him an outsider among psychoanalysts till today.<ref name="Rudnytsky"/><!-- the fact that he was an outsider can be granted. What needs citation is the idea that something changed "today".-->
Groddeck was a controversial but important figure within the psychoanalytic movement. He attended the congress of the German Psychoanalytic Association in 1930. He was invited to lecture to the British Psychoanalytic Society in 1928, and invited by Felix Boehm to lecture at the Berlin Institute in 1930. Eitingon disliked Groddeck until being treated by him in 1928, after which he regarded him warmly.{{sfn | Fuechtner | 2011 | p=82f}}
== Views == === Psychosomatic integrative approach === thumb|Grave monument in the main cemetery of Baden-Baden Zen philosopher Alan Watts said that when people came to Groddeck for analysis, he would give them a massage, and when they came to him for a massage, he would give them analysis.<ref name="Watts" />
"He who draws the conclusion that I mentally medicate a human who has broken his leg is very true – but I adjust the fracture and dress the wound. And then – I give him a massage, make exercises with him, give a daily bath to the leg with water at 45 °C for half an hour and I take care that he does neither gorge nor booze, and every now and then I ask him: Why did you break your leg, ''you yourself'' ?"<ref name="Georg Groddeck">Georg Groddeck, ''The Meaning of Illness: Selected Psychoanalytic Writings'', International Universities Press (June 1977), {{ISBN|0-8236-3205-9}}</ref>
With such and other methods the German physician Georg Groddeck, who practised in Baden-Baden and was the pathfinder of psychosomatic medicine,<ref name="Rudnytsky">Peter L. Rudnytsky, ''Reading Psychoanalysis: Freud, Rank, Ferenczi, Groddeck'', Cornell Studies in the History of Psychiatry; Cornell University Press (November 2002), {{ISBN|0-8014-8825-7}}</ref> astonished his numerous listeners and readers. His therapy connects naturopathic treatment with psychoanalytic, suggestive and hypnotic elements. His foot and arm bath, massages and dietary cuisine are still practised today,<ref name="Gerda Boyesen">Gerda Boyesen, "Entre psyché et soma", Payot (December 1996), {{ISBN|2-228-89064-2}}</ref> although the bold doctrine of salvation, where he vigorously massaged his patients, is necessarily quite authoritarian, and a more reserved approach would be judged appropriate today. He said, “To provide obedience [is the] foundation of medical art".
In contrast to Freud, Groddeck interpreted all physiological symptoms as being psychological, caused by the ''It''/''Id''/{{lang|de|das Es}}, and sought to interpret them through psychoanalysis.{{sfn | Fuechtner | 2011 | p=73,83}}
=== Psychology === Groddeck believed that all feelings are ambivalent, affection is always mixed with animosity{{sfn|Blumenfeld|2006|p=125f}}
=== Religiosity === Groddeck was deeply interested in Christian mysticism.{{sfn|Blumenfeld|2006|p=123}}{{sfn|Hoffman|2011|p=379}}{{sfn|Rudnytsky|2002}} He regarded psychoanalysis as identical with Jesus' teachings.{{sfn|Rudnytsky|2002|p=219}}{{sfn|Hoffman|2011|p=379}} Groddeck analyzed Christian symbols with psychoanalytic methods.{{sfn|Fuechtner|2011}}
Alan Watts described Groddeck, saying, "He was a completely wonderful man because everybody felt calmed by him. They felt an atmosphere of implicit faith in nature and especially in your own inner nature. No matter what, there is a wisdom inside you which may seem absurd, but you have to trust it."<ref name="Watts">{{cite speech|last=Watts|first=Alan|title=Who is it who knows there is no ego?|via=The Library|id=https://www.organism.earth/library/document/who-is-it-that-knows-there-is-no-ego|at=50 minutes}}</ref>
==Later years== Toward the end of his life, many colleagues and admirers asked Groddeck to form a society that would promote his ideas. To this request, he would laugh and reply: <blockquote>Disciples like their master to stay put, whereas I should think anyone a fool who wanted me to say the same thing tomorrow as I said yesterday. If you really want to be my follower, look at life for yourself and tell the world honestly what you see.<ref name="Homer">{{cite book | last=Homer | first=Frederic D. | title=The interpretation of illness | publisher=Purdue University Press | location=West Lafayette, Ind | year=1988 | isbn=978-0-911198-88-1 | oclc=16090968}}</ref></blockquote>
He died in Knonau near Zürich.
==See also== *Id, ego and super-ego
== Notes == {{notelist}}
== Citations == {{reflist}}
== References == {{refbegin|40em}} * {{cite book |last=Blumenfeld |first=R. |title=Tools and Techniques for Character Interpretation: A Handbook of Psychology for Actors, Writers, and Directors |publisher=Limelight Editions |series=Limelight Series |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-87910-326-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UwK5SmQImBoC&pg=PA123 }} * {{cite book |last=Fuechtner |first=V. |title=Berlin Psychoanalytic: Psychoanalysis and Culture in Weimar Republic Germany and Beyond |publisher=University of California Press |series=ACLS Fellows' Publications |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-520-25837-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L2wHE8xT2poC&pg=PA83 }} * {{cite book |last=Hoffman |first=M.T. |title=Toward Mutual Recognition: Relational Psychoanalysis and the Christian Narrative |publisher=Taylor & Francis |series=Relational Perspectives Book Series |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-135-83847-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AZ6RAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT379 }} * {{citation |last1=Laplanche |first1=J. |last2=Pontalis |first2=J. B. |date=1967 |title=Vocabulaire de la psychanalyse |trans-title=The vocabulary of psychoanalysis |language=fr |pages=197–199}} * {{cite book |last=Mills |first=J. |title=Origins: On the Genesis of Psychic Reality |publisher=MQUP |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-7735-8347-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mo3JNL_tgz8C&pg=PA89 }} * {{cite book |last=Rudnytsky |first=P.L. |title=Reading Psychoanalysis: Freud, Rank, Ferenczi, Groddeck |publisher=Cornell University Press |series=Cornell studies in the history of psychiatry |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-8014-8825-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PRaNDKvpi78C }} {{refend}}
==Further reading== *Lawrence Durrell, 'Studies in Genius: VI. Groddeck' ''Horizon'', XVII (1948), 384-403
==External links== *{{cite encyclopedia |title=The Book of the It |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/psychology/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/ |encyclopedia=International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis. Encyclopedia.com |year=2005 |publisher=Thomson Gale |location=Farmington Hills, Michigan}} *{{cite book |last=Groddeck |first=Georg |url=https://archive.org/details/b29815101 |title=The Book of the It. Psychoanalytic Letters to a Friend |year=1928 |publisher=Nervous and mental disease publishing company |location=New York City}} Hosted online by the Internet Archive *Groddeck, Georg, ''The Book of the It'', [http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/p109g/groddeck.html Letter I and Letter II] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090409213039/http://www.haverford.edu/psych/ddavis/p109g/groddeck.html |date=9 April 2009 }} *DesGroseillers, René, ''George Groddeck'', [http://www.freudfile.org/groddeck.html Eprint]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Groddeck, Georg}} Category:1866 births Category:1934 deaths Category:German psychologists Category:Analysands of Sándor Ferenczi