General Introduction to the Psychotherapy of Pierre Janet

This article deals with Pierre Janet’s concept of “Psychological Analysis” (analyse psychologique). It brings out Janet’s criticism of Sigmund Freud’s ideas, and delineates the difference between psychological analysis (Janet) and psychoanalysis (Freud). Further it points out that Janet’s theories on the pathogenesis of neurotic disorders rely on the concept of psychic trauma and associated fixed ideas. Mental force and mental tension, described in greater detail, are essential for the pathogenesis of mental disorders. According to Janet, a significant characteristic of the neurotically disturbed person is feature that Von Gebsattel calls “Werdenshemmung” (“inhibition of becoming”), a state which impairs the life development of the ill person.