Freud Museum

Sigmund Freud is known as the father of psychoanalysis.  Recently, one of our therapists, Helma Marlow visited the Freud Museum. 

Did you know that:

  • Freud was a chain smoker which led to multiple cancer surgeries
  • He believed that Cocaine was a miracle drug.
  • His famous couch was a gift from a client
  • The Nazis took his books and burned them and then drove him out of Austria
  • Four of Freud’s siblings died in concentration camps.

 

Helma who is one of our counsellors recently visited the Freud Museum in London and has kindly written an informative blog about her time there. 

Last week, I took a trip up to London to visit the Freud Museum with some peers of mine who I’d studied and qualified with.

Amongst the highlights were seeing Freud’s famous couch, as well as his desk and bespoke designed chair.

Freud only lived in this house in North West London for the last year of his life – the Jewish Austrian family had fled to the UK from the Nazis. However, his wife and daughter Anna (with her partner Dorothy) lived there for many years.

There was quite a lot of information about Anna, who carried on her father’s work, specialising in child psychoanalysis. Although she didn’t have any formal training, the many certificates on display in her study showed honorary memberships and fellowships awarded to her from many of the major medical societies as well as an OBE for her major contributions to the field. 

Freud’s study was set up to replicate his study in Vienna, although he only practised there for a short time, due to his illness, cancer of the throat.

Apart from the couch, desk and chair, the many artefacts that he had collected throughout his working life were displayed around the large room. He had a huge interest in antiquities, as he said that he “like the archaeologists in his excavations, must uncover layer after layer of the patient’s psyche, before coming to the deepest, most valuable treasures”. 

There was also a typewriter set up in Anna’s study with a letter that she was in the process of sending. 

The pretty gardens which surrounded the house were set up as close to how they looked when Freud and his family lived there.

We enjoyed tea and homemade scones (provided by my peer) to end an informative and enjoyable excursion. 

If you would like further information about working with Helma Marlow at the Cherry Tree Centre please get in touch.