Otto Rank and the Creation of Modern Psychotherapy

Once considered Sigmund Freud's designated heir, Otto Rank was an interdisciplinary thinker and prodigious author of twenty-two books. After being expelled from Freud's inner circle in 1926—due to Freud's opposition to the pre-Oedipal thesis of The Trauma of Birth (1924)—Rank had a highly productive life as a teacher, psychotherapist, and writer.

In this book, noted Rank scholar Robert Kramer argues that Rank, not Freud, created modern psychotherapy, which focuses on the therapist-client rel...