Anne Berman (1889–1979), une «simple secrétaire» du mouvement psychanalytique français ?

This article is focused on the figure of personal secretary in the history of science with the example of Anne Berman (1889–1979) who was, between 1933 and 1962, the secretary for the psychoanalyst Marie Bonaparte (1882– 1962). Berman was not a psychoanalyst and psychoanalytic historiography considers her as a minor figure. However, her career as a personal secretary and her role in the French psychoanalytic movement should be considered in conjunction with her involvement with the feminist movement. This phar- macist by training has indeed played a prominent role within the Soroptimist, which was a movement that championed the professional interest of women and prides female excellence. In the case of Berman, the status of personal secretary did not enable her to gain lasting recognition by psychoanalysts, but only a weak and fragile legitimacy

Beyond Indifference and Aversion: The Critical Reception and Belated Acceptance of Behavior Therapy in France

In 1960s France, behavior therapy attracted the attention of a group of isolated pioneers largely composed of psychiatrists and some experimental psychologists. At the beginning of the 1970s, after a discreet introduction, the development of this movement provoked an adverse reaction related to the French intellectual context, which was characterized by a taste for psychoanalysis. At the height of the Cold War, this new form of therapy was, moreover, seen as a typical product of American culture, and viewed as a technique for mind control that would be incompatible with French humanist values. In this respect, the French rejection of behavioral therapies can also be placed in a broader context, one of anti-Americanism and assertion of the French “cultural exception.” Thus, until the late 1980s, the development of the French behavior therapy movement was weak compared with what happened in the United Kingdom or the United States. Conversely, psychoanalysis reigned unchallenged in the French market for psychotherapy. In the early 1990s, the arrival of cognitive–behavioral therapy made a crucial difference. Hybridized with cognitive techniques, cognitive–behavioral therapy was seen as a “synthetic product” better suited to the French culture in psychotherapy than the initial model of “pure” behavior therapy

Des relations déraisonnables ? Marie Bonaparte, son chien Topsy, la biologie et la psychanalyse

Analysée par Sigmund Freud, Marie Bonaparte devint son élève et eut un rôle capital dans le développement de la psychanalyse en France. Elle fut aussi une proche de Gustave Le Bon, passionnée comme lui par les sciences, et fréquenta notamment les scientifiques de l’Institut Pasteur. Outre son œuvre de psychanalyste, elle publia en 1937 un texte sur le cancer de sa chienne Topsy qui sera traduit en allemand par Freud et connaîtra un réel succès éditorial. L’analyse de cet ouvrage met au jour non seulement les spécificités de son rapport à l’animal, mais aussi celui qu’elle entretient avec la science.After being analyzed by Sigmund Freud, Marie Bonaparte became his pupil and played a vital role in the development of psychoanalysis in France. She was also a friend of Gustave Le Bon with whom she shared a strong interest in science. She was particularly close with the scientists from the Pasteur Institute of Paris. In addition to her psychoanalytic work, she published a book, translated into German by Freud, on the story of her dog Topsy. The analysis of this book reveals not only the nature of her relationship with animals but also with science