A Study Of Theodore Rick 's Psychoanalytic Thought

Theodor Reik(1888-1969) was an Austrian psychoanalyst and also one of the most loyal students of Freud. He has made a significant contribution to the psychoanalytic theory, clinical technologies and application area of psychoanalysis. In terms of theory, on the basis of following, absorbing and making an doubt of Freud’s theory, Reik promoted his own theory of drive, he claims that the sex-drive and ego-drives are two kinds of tendencies of our human, essentially, the interplay of tension and relax determines our behaviors. He puts forward an new insight into the problem of love, he thinks that love is the production of civilization, it is different from sex. Besides, Reik makes a detailed discussion about the phenomenon of masochism, masochism means not only a kind of sexual perversion, but also a particular attitude toward life, namely the social masochism, it is a desexualized conception.Reik brings up a new kind of psychoanalytic technology, namely "listening with the third ear". It emphasizes the important role of analyst’s unconscious. The nature of the psychoanalytic process is an unconscious duet between patient and analyst. Analyst should make a self-analysis and pay attention on his own reaction to the patient which elicited by the patient. Furthermore, Reik expand the range of psychoanalysis into other areas, he explains the culture, art and religion from the perspective of psychoanalysis.As a psychoanalytic pioneer, Reik penetrate his ideas into the later psychoanalysis, and make an influence on the theory of inter-subjectivity and counter-transference and others. But there are also some limits in his work, rely on Freud’s theory so much that he doesn’t form his own complete system, and also he places excessive stress on the talent of the analyst.