J. A. Hadfield

J. A. Hadfield [James Arthur] (1882–1967) was a pioneer of psychodynamic psychotherapy in Britain, who became an influential figure at the interwar Tavistock Clinic.

He is perhaps best known as being the analyst of W. R. Bion, while the latter was analysing Samuel Beckett.[1]

Technique

Coming from an academic background, Hadfield was influenced in his psychological approach by both Carl Jung and William McDougal.[2] Causally, Hadfield favoured lack of parental protection rather than the repression of sexual love as the source of childhood disturbances.[3]

His writings were repeatedly criticised by Ernest Jones for their lack of Freudianism;[4] while his analytic technique has been seen as a reductive attempt to uncover childhood trauma, at the expense of the use of the analytic relationship, and the exploration of transference and countertransference.[5]

Publications

Among his many publications were:

See also

References

  1. C. Ross, Beckett's Art of Absence (2011) p. 20
  2. N. Torres, Bion's Sources (2013) p. 46-7
  3. R. Lipgar/M. Pines, Building on Bion (2013) p. 116
  4. N. Torres, Bion's Sources (2013) p. 46-7
  5. C. Ross, Beckett's Art of Absence (2011) p. 71

External links