Volume 06 - Number 4 - March 2000
Pages: 133 - 184
deMause, L. (2000). The electronic future of psychohistory. Clio’s Psyche, 6(4), 150-151.
The Electronic Future of Psychohistory
Abstract
In this article, part of the journal’s section on the future of psychohistory, the author considers the prospects of psychohistory alongside those of psychoanalysis, from which psychohistory is said to stem. The author reports that psychoanalysis has recently declined, citing smaller entering classes at psychoanalytic institutes, reduced patient loads, and an American Psychoanalytic Association convention devoted to whether the profession survives. The author attributes this partly to managed care and insurers and partly to a national mood favoring genetic and pharmacological explanations. Psychohistory, by contrast, is described as gaining ground worldwide, especially online. As evidence, the author cites weekly visits to the Institute for Psychohistory Web site, e-mail inquiries from several countries, a new H-Net discussion group hosted by Michigan State University, a free online training course, 19 Institute branches, and translations into 11 languages. The author proposes that the Internet may do for psychohistory what training institutes did for psychoanalysis, possibly increasing academic courses, and regards the field’s record after three decades favorably.
academia, American Psychoanalytic Association (APA), Institute for Psychohistory, Lloyd deMause, psychoanalysis, psychohistory
Since psychoanalysis is a profession that one can earn a living from and psychohistory is a would-be course in academia, it may seem odd to lump the two together in a consideration of their futures. Yet since psychohistory stems from psychoanalysis, it to some extent shares psychoanalysis’ ups and downs and perhaps even its future.
Psychoanalysis has suffered a severe setback in the past few years. Psychoanalytic institutes report smaller entering classes, psychoanalysts privately admit their patient load is down a third or more, and the American Psychoanalytic Association devotes its yearly convention to the question of “Is There Still a Profession of Psychoanalysis?” This isn’t just due to HMOs and insurance companies being anti-psychoanalysis (“Prozac, not therapy”). It is part of our current national mood, with newsweeklies featuring cover stories showing a one-year-old in prison uniform and asking, “Is It All in the Genes?” and answering, “Yes.” Manic stock markets and personal insight just don’t seem to go together very well.
Psychohistory, meanwhile, seems to be catching hold lately, particularly worldwide, especially through the Internet. The Web site of the Institute for Psychohistory (www.psychohistory.com), featuring 20 articles and 3 books in full, is getting over 5,000 hits a week. I get hundreds of e-mails from people in New Delhi, Mexico City, and Zurich asking questions about psychohistory, including one from an entire college class in Australia saying they are excited by having discovered the Web site, and how their professor now requires reading it for graduation.
The Internet appears to be becoming the best way to get to students past professors who fear learning something new, especially something psychological. The Institute has just started an exciting new free online moderated discussion group called H-Psychohistory, which is hosted by Michigan State University and run by H-Net, which has over 100 electronic lists that reach over 60,000 subscribers in more than 90 countries, promoting scholarly communications as well as research and teaching interests. (Everyone is invited to join by sending an e-mail message to saying “sub h-psychohistory [first name] [last name]”.)
In addition, the Institute has begun a free online training course in psychohistory consisting of 20 weekly assignments that mainly use readings that are already posted free on our Web site. (Everyone is also invited to join by sending a blank e-mail to .) When psychoanalysis found a century ago that it
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had difficulty getting its training course into academia, it started its own training institutes around the world. Psychohistory may find the Internet will be the equivalent, though perhaps leading to more and more psychohistory courses in academic institutions rather than competing with them.
The Institute for Psychohistory now has 19 branches around the world, many with local yearly conventions. This June the International Psychohistorical Association is holding its 23rd Annual Convention in New York City. The Journal of Psychohistory is now in its 27th year with distribution to both individuals and to most of the important libraries around the world. Psychohistory books have been translated into 11 languages. One way or another, tens of thousands of interested individuals are being exposed each year to our research and theories. Not bad, after only three decades of work.
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How to cite this article
deMause, L. (2000). The electronic future of psychohistory. Clio’s Psyche, 6(4), 150-151.
