The relevance of Pierre Janet: psychological analysis between psychiatry and psicotherapy

Abstract

Starting from the rediscovery of Pierre Janet’s work proposed by H. F. Ellenberger in his 1970’s volume, the aim of this paper is to offer a comprehensive review of the French psychologist’s psychopathological and psychotherapeutic theories. A particular attention is given to the direct and indirect connections between Janet and Freud and the role played by psychoanalysis in consigning to oblivion Janet’s ideas. The author therefore highlights how the recovery of his theoretical work in the psychiatric debate seems to offer a decisive contribution to recompose psychiatric and psychotherapeutic ideas together, once split by the diffusion of psychoanalysis.