Final Analysis: The Making and Unmaking of a Psychoanalyst [Paperback]

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1991

He was the rising star of psychoanalysis, an intimate associate of Anna Freud and Kurt Eissler, a member of the Freudian “inner circle” with unrestricted access to the Freud Archives. And then Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson threw it all away because he dared to break the psychoanalytic community’s deepest taboo: he told the truth in public. As he unmasks the pretensions and abuses of this elite profession, Masson invites us to eavesdrop on the shockingly unorthodox analysis he was subjected to in the course of his analytic training. But the more prestige Masson attained, the more he came to doubt not only the integrity of his colleagues, but the validity of their method. In the end, he blew the whistle–fully aware of the personal and professional consequences.

With wit, wonder, and unflinching candor, Masson brilliantly exposes the cult of psychoanalysis and recounts his own self-propelled fall from grace. A sensation when it first appeared, Final Analysis is even more provocative and engrossing today. Written with passion and humor, this is the book that revealed a revered profession for what it was–and launched Masson on his true career.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In becoming a psychoanalyst, Masson, like Shakespeare's Malvoleo, mistook the trappings for the thing itself; that he never achieved the power he bestowed on such figures as Kurt Eissler and Anna Freud is his continuing complaint. He trained at the Toronto Psychoanalytic Institute and, even before graduating in 1978, insinuated himself into the international psychoanalytic community. As projects director of the Freud Archives in London, he hypothesized that Freud had deliberately suppressed his seduction theory. Masson ( Against Therapy ) faults his teachers for not hewing to the principle of full disclosure (failing to note that part of the psychoanalytic equation requires hiddenness) yet rails against their discussion of analysands. Best to read is his affectionate account of his tyrannous training analysis; worst, his fawning over analysts with clout. Masson left the "cult" of psychoanalysis without developing his own practice; the disappointment and blame that propel this volume suggest the rage of a child at a parent's fallibility. He makes no mention of his much publicized, unsuccessful libel suit against Janet Malcolm for her 1983 New Yorker profile.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

A former projects director of the Sigmund Freud Archives, Masson claims that he was fired for espousing and publicizing views concerning the sexual abuse of children that radically challenged psychoanalytic theories. Since then, he has been a thorn in the side of mental health professionals with his searing critiques of therapy. Here he abandons his formidable research skills for a personal glimpse into how, in his training and psychoanalytic career, he too became enmeshed in the mystique that psychoanalysis could cure unhappiness and that analysts were all wise and moral. Although Masson describes with great candor his wasted analysis, his rise in the elite inner circle, and his close ties with Kurt Eissler and Anna Freud, this is no autobiography but rather an attempt to knock psychoanalysis from its pedestal once and for all. Recommended.
- Janice Arenofsky, formerly with Arizona State Lib., Phoenix
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: HarperPerennial (November 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060974192
• ISBN-13: 978-0060974190
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #671,265 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Masson has had at least four lives: first as a boy raised to become a "spiritual leader" (see his denunciation of such a life in My Father's Guru). While in the middle of his disillusion, he became a professor of Sanskrit at the University of Toronto. At the same time he trained to become a Freudian analyst. Upon graduation he became Projects Director of the Freud Archives, and was scheduled to move into Freud's house in London when fate intervened: Masson found documents which seemed to show that Freud was right in believing that many women had been sexually abused as children, and that he was wrong to give up this belief, perhaps impelled by societal displeasure at his discoveries. Saying this publicly turned Masson into a psychoanalytic pariah, and he gave up both his professorship and his analytic career to delve into the far more fascinating world of animal emotions. Two of his books, WHEN ELEPHANTS WEEP and DOGS NEVER LIE ABOUT LOVE, were New York Times best-sellers. He became vegetarian as a result of his research, and later, when he looked into the feelings of farm animals, he became even stricter, and no longer eats or uses any animal product (vegan). Harpercollins published his most recent book: THE DOG WHO COULDN'T STOP LOVING: HOW DOGS HAVE CAPTURED OUR HEARTS FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. He lives on a beach in New Zealand with his two sons, Ilan and Manu, and his German wife, Leila, a pediatrician who works with children on the autistic spectrum (using the bio-medical approach), Benjy, a golden lab, and three cats. They often travel to the States, Europe, and Australia. He is now fascinated in the "us/them" phenomenon, between humans but also between humans and animals.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT, January 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Final Analysis: The Making and Unmaking of a Psychoanalyst (Paperback)

Anyone even remotely associated with analysis, as either a patient, friend of a patient, or an analyst himself, should read this very informative and fascinating book. Clear and well-written, Masson does a wonderful job of exposing the clique of therapists who get rich by deceiving their patients, pretending to care and asserting knowledge they simply don't possess. A very engrossing book that explores a heretofore closed society.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This Is The One That Should Be Famous, January 15, 2005

By 

A reader (Paris, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Final Analysis: The Making and Unmaking of a Psychoanalyst (Paperback)

Like many other people, and despite having serious doubts about psychotherapy myself, I was put off by the pamphleteering tone and over-comprehensiveness of "Against Therapy". In this book, Masson reveals the reasons behind "Against Therapy", which are very sound indeed. The ways in which absolute power can corrupt a therapist absolutely are made crystal clear, and are shown most convincingly by this highly intelligent and lucid first-person narrative. It is unsurprising that Masson should have been put off therapy completely by his experiences, and a pity, as his intelligence and dedication would have made him a great reformer.

25 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful expose! An eye opener., October 23, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Final Analysis: The Making and Unmaking of a Psychoanalyst (Paperback)

Reading Masson's book, I was reminded time and again of the injustices and psychological abuse I experienced whilst undergoing Social Work training a number of years ago.

"Final Analysis", together with Masson's other treasures - "Against Therapy" and "Assault on Truth" provide, in my view, an accurate insight into the arrogance, self-righteousness and pretense to knowledge and care that often occurs both behind the scenes and quite openly in the world of Psychotherapy.

One of the better books I have read.