Coffee with Freud

Professor Brett Kahr is Senior Fellow at Tavistock Relationships, in the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology, London, and, Senior Clinical Research Fellow in Psychotherapy and Mental Health at the Centre for Child Mental Health. A registrant of both the British Psychoanalytic Council and the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy, he has written or edited nine books and serves as Series Editor or Co-Editor to the "Forensic Psychotherapy Monograph Series" and the "History of Psychoanalysis Series" for Karnac Books. He is also a Trustee of the Freud Museum London. He has worked in the mental health field for over thirty-five years. His most recent book is 'Coffee with Freud', and his forthcoming book is entitled 'Winnicott's Anni Horribiles: The Creation of 'Hate in the Counter-Transference''. Alison Bechdel is an American cartoonist. Originally best known for the long-running comic strip 'Dykes to Watch Out For', she came to critical success in 2006 with her graphic memoir 'Fun Home', which was subsequently adapted as a musical and won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2015. She is a 2014 recipient of the MacArthur 'Genius' Award.

'Brett Kahr has been teaching the works of Freud since 1979. In this fascinating book he presents his "posthumous interview" with Freud from their "get-togethers" at Vienna's legendary Cafe Landtmann. When I was the Fulbright-Freud Visiting Scholar of Psychoanalysis in 2006, I had my office at 19 Berggasse and enjoyed drinking coffee at Cafe Landtmann where I also "talked" with Freud, but not in such a balanced and layered way. Reading Kahr's book made me envious of the author, who has found a creative method of introducing the great professor both as the father of psychoanalysis and as a private man.'- Professor Vamik Volkan, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia, and Senior Erik Erikson Scholar at the Austen Riggs Center'Brett Kahr is one of the best historians of psychoanalysis writing today, and able to deal with the most difficult topics authoritatively and wittily, and with so light a touch that they become accessible to all. The twelve imaginary dialogues that make up this book pay particular attention to Freud's early professional struggles and to the ways in which these shaped both his own life and the lives of countless analysts and patients in the decades that followed. The result is a wonderfully human and highly original picture of a brilliant man and his ideas.'- Dr Neil Vickers, Reader in English Literature and Director of the Centre for the Humanities and Health at King's College London, University of London'As a mental health professional, and as the granddaughter of Freud's pupil Dr Franz Alexander, I found this book pure joy. Coffee with Freud is an absolute page-turner that benefits from beautiful descriptive language, secrets revealed, and great humour. Freud really comes to life in this conversation that is witty, personal, compelling, and insightful. An ingenious means to travel through time to meet the father of psychoanalysis."- Ilonka Venier Alexander, author of The Life and Times of Franz Alexander: From Budapest to California and co-editor of Love and Survival in Budapest: The Memoir of Artur Renyi'"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar," said Freud. But do you realise that Freud never actually spoke these words? This is just one fascinating snippet revealed by this amazing volume. And sometimes a book is just a book - but not this one. This is pure genius. The dialogue reveals a dazzling knowledge of Freud's life and milieu. Coffee with Freud is an exquisite gift to those seeking insight into one of the most influential minds of the last three centuries.'- Professor John Nuttall, Professor of Integrative Psychotherapy, Assistant Dean, and Head of the School of Psychotherapy and Psychology, Regent's University London'Brett Kahr has created a whole new category of psychoanalytic communication. Eminently readable, accurate, full of great illustrations... and fun! Long may the series flourish.'- Dr Anton Obholzer, Emeritus Consultant and formerly Chairman of the Tavistock Clinic and Chief Executive of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust in London, and Senior Consultant, Tavistock Consultancy Service

• Interviews with Icons , Books by Brett Kahr , Introductory Note , Dramatis Personae , The Interview , The resurrection of Professor Sigmund Freud , Beyond the Narrenturm: towards a critique of psychiatry , A Moravian childhood , Freud as translator , Smoking a Trabuco cigar , Polish liquor on Frau Benvenisti’s couch , Digging for antiquities , Brook lampreys, eels, and a bit of cocaine , Freud and his fecundity , Blowing off steam: how to treat a hysteric , A suicidal crown prince and a murdered empress , On the verge of dreaming , Epilogue