• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Allan Tegg

Psychotherapy

  • Home
  • About Author
  • Articles
  • Contact
  • Show Search
Hide Search

The Way Back to Kansas

May 14, 2019

From Joseph’s Breuer’s account, it would appear that Bertha Pappenheim slipped easily into the psychotherapeutic process. Like Dorothy suddenly finding herself in Munchkinland in The Wizard of Oz, Bertha doesn’t seem daunted by the strange land of psychotherapy. She was quickly travelling the Yellow Brick Road.

Many patients have the same reaction to psychotherapy as Bertha, and Dorothy. It as if they have been waiting for a place like this. After lives spent listening to people telling them how to fix themselves, they intuitively know its about being understood. They also realise there are no quick fixes, the work needs to take place in the deeper reaches of their psyche. They respond positively to the empathy and curiosity of the therapist and the focus on symbolism and metaphor. They believe they have found the way back to Kansas, the place where they are not governed by rages and anxieties.

These patients tend to underestimate the power of the Wicked Witch of the West. Getting to Kansas is harder than they imagine. But that’s all for the future.

The enthusiasm of these patients is infectious. Watch as Dorothy sets out to find the wizard. It is no wonder that Joseph Breuer found himself so committed to Bertha Pappenheim.

\

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related

Primary Sidebar

About me

allan-tegg

Allan grew up at Belmont, on the shores of Lake Macquarie, near Newcastle, NSW, Australia. In his early twenties, he completed his Commerce Degree with a major in economics and was employed as a management trainee with the BHP Pty Ltd.

Allan decided he was not ready to settle into a career, particularly in the corporate world. It was a life changing moment.

Read More

Follow me

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Footer

Latest Articles

  • The Saddest Rock Song Ever
  • You’ll Never Reach the Sky
  • The Man in Black.

Subscribe

... to receive updates on my articles.

Find it here

Copyright © 2022 Allan Tegg · Privacy Policy · website design by AIDIA design & consulting

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.