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Chapter 8    Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis245
firsthand. HewassurethattheBritish andFrench wereequally irrational, andonce 
again hewasstruck byatroubling question: How could normally rational andpeace -
fulpeople become sodriven bynational ideologies, sointent onkilling, soready to
die?“When thewarended in1918, Iwasadeeply troubled young manwhowas
obsessed bythequestion ofhowwarwaspossible, bythewishtounderstand theirra-
tionality ofhuman mass behavior, byapassionate desire forpeace andinternational 
understanding” (Fromm, 1962, p.9).
During adolescence, Fromm wasdeeply moved bythewritings ofFreud and
KarlMarx, buthewasalsostimulated bydifferences between thetwo.Ashestudied 
more, hebegan toquestion thevalidity ofbothsystems. “Mymain interest wasclearly 
mapped out.Iwanted tounderstand thelawsthatgovern thelifeoftheindividual 
man, andthelawsofsociety” (Fromm, 1962, p.9).
After thewar,Fromm became asocialist, although atthattime, herefused to
jointheSocialist Party. Instead, heconcentrated onhisstudies inpsychology, phi-
losophy, andsociology attheUniversity ofHeidelberg, where hereceived hisPhDin
sociology ateither age22or25.[Fromm wassuchaprivate person thathisbiogra -
phers donotagree onmany factsofhislife(Hornstein, 2000).]
Stillnotconfident thathistraining could answer suchtroubling questions as
thesuicide oftheyoung woman ortheinsanity ofwar,Fromm turned topsychoanaly -
sis,believing thatitpromised answers toquestions ofhuman motivation notoffered 
inother fields. From 1925 until1930 hestudied psychoanalysis, firstinMunich, then
inFrankfurt, andfinally attheBerlin Psychoanalytic Institute, where hewasanalyzed 
byHanns Sachs, astudent ofFreud. Although Fromm never metFreud, most ofhis
teachers during those years werestrict adherents ofFreudian theory (Knapp, 1989).
In1926, thesame yearthatherepudiated Orthodox Judaism, Fromm married 
Frieda Reichmann, hisanalyst, whowasmore than10years hissenior. Reichmann 
would laterobtain aninternational reputation forherwork withschizophrenic 
patients. G.P.Knapp (1989) claimed thatReichmann wasclearly amother figure 
toFromm andthatsheevenresembled hismother. GailHornstein (2000) added 
thatFromm seemed tohavegone directly from being hismother’s darling torelation -
ships withanumber ofolder women whodoted onhim.Inanyevent, themarriage 
ofFromm andFromm-Reichmann wasnotahappy one.They separated in1930 but
werenotdivorced untilmuch later, afterbothhademigrated totheUnited States.
In1930, Fromm andseveral others founded theSouth German Institute for
Psychoanalysis inFrankfurt, butwiththeNazi threat becoming more intense, he
soon moved toSwitzerland where hejoined thenewly founded International Institute 
ofSocial Research inGeneva. In1933, heaccepted aninvitation todeliver aseries of
lectures attheChicago Psychoanalytic Institute. Thefollowing yearheemigrated to
theUnited States andopened aprivate practice inNewYork City.
InbothChicago andNewYork, Fromm renewed hisacquaintance withKaren 
Horney, whom hehadknown casually attheBerlin Psychoanalytic Institute. Horney, 
whowas15years older thanFromm, eventually became astrong mother figure and
mentor tohim(Knapp, 1989). Fromm joined Horney’s newly formed Association 
fortheAdvancement ofPsychoanalysis (AAP) in1941. Although heandHorney 
hadbeen lovers, by1943 dissension within theassociation hadmade them rivals. 
When students requested thatFromm, whodidnotholdanMDdegree, teach aclini-
calcourse, theorganization splitoverhisqualifications. With Horney siding against Final PDF to printer