Rereading the Rat Man Case

In this paper the authors suggest that Freud’s 1909 case report on the “Rat Man” exemplifies a continuing generative and effective clinical stance, rather than being illustrative of outmoded or obsolete and irrelevant psychoanalytic theory and technique, as many have claimed. Looking at current theoretical models of mental development and functioning, they find Freud’s formulations to be consistent with their model of two systems of self-regulation. They place their discussion in the context of historical trends in psychoanalysis, noting the continuity of a dual-track approach in much child analytic work, and emphasize the connection between Freud’s technical approaches, so radical for his time, and a modern democratic stance of co-created treatment relationship, whatever the age of the patient.