Book Review
Psychotherapy 
The Unsung Psychoanalyst: The Quiet Influence of Ruth Easser Mary Kay O'Neil. Toronto (ON): University of Toronto Press; 2005. 250 p. CDN $45.00.
Reviewer
rating*: Excellent
Review by: Mary Eleanor Yack, MD
Ottawa, Ontario
Ruth Easser was a psychoanalytic pioneer. She was one of a handful of female physicians to leave Canada to train as a psychoanalyst and was among the first graduates of the Columbia University Centre for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. She was the first Canadian woman to return to Canada to teach in the Toronto Psychoanalytic Institute. As a gifted teacher and clinician, she had a profound impact on a generation of postwar psychiatrists and psychoanalysts. In this biography, Mary Kay O'Neil bases her source material on several interwoven filters. These include the recollections of Ruth Easser by those who knew her personally and professionally. As they speak of her influence, the interviewees recount their own reflections on what it is like to live one's life as a psychoanalyst. The author, who is herself a psychoanalyst, was in training analysis with Easser at the time of her death and states that the writing of the book was, in part, an attempt to deal with this loss. The authorial voice is respectful and, at times, idealizes her subject. By reconstructing the life and influence of this analyst and teacher, the author demonstrates the rewards, both intellectual and personal, that a life as an analyst offers.
The book is organized into 4 chapters, which focus on the professional development of an analyst. In the first chapter, entitled “Beginning,” the author examines the factors in Easser's family background that may have led her to choose psychoanalysis as a profession. Easser was born in Toronto into a secular Jewish family. Her parents were social activists, had high intellectual expectations of their children, and did not think a girl should be held back by her sex. Having no access to journals, the author eschews writing a psychobiography and avoids making unfounded speculations about Easser's unconscious motivation to become a psychoanalyst. However, the author does note a recurring theme—that Ruth strove to gain some independence and autonomy from her domineering mother. This may have given her the impetus to leave Canada and study in New York and may have influenced her choice to study at the Columbia Centre, which at that time was seen as a “renegade” institute.
The second chapter, “Becoming,” discusses the process of training to become an analyst. The third chapter, “Being,” describes Easser's career as a psychoanalyst, teacher, and writer. Many of those interviewed portrayed her as a gifted clinician who was able to communicate complicated concepts in clear, simple language. Easser trained at Columbia University Psychoanalytic Centre, which was originally founded by Sandor Rado, a Hungarian analyst whose impact has been virtually deleted from the history of psychoanalysis. Rado reacted to the extreme austerity and authoritarianism of psychoanalysis in the 1940s and focused his attention on the centrality of affects. He was influential in integrating the professions of psychoanalysis, psychiatry, and medicine. Easser seems to have applied Rado's revolutionary and prescient ideas to her clinical work. Repeatedly emphasized was her attention to the nuances of the therapeutic relationship and to her own countertransference reactions to gain access to the patient's unconscious communications. In light of current psychoanalytic developments, Easser's ideas remain fresh and relevant.
In the final chapter, “Integration,” the author notes the impact of the key events in Easser's personal life on her professional pursuits. That her son was born with congenital deafness intensified her already heightened sensitivity to the importance of the expression of affects and nonverbal communication. Easser and her husband, Stanley Lesser, who was also a training analyst, relocated from New York to Toronto at the height of their professional careers and were sought after as supervisors and training analysts. Easser's untimely death at age 53 years prevented her from publishing more papers and gaining more widespread recognition. She remains the “unsung psychoanalyst.”
This book would appeal to anyone interested in the history of psychiatry and psychoanalysis. It pays tribute to the quiet influence of dedicated teachers and supervisors who profoundly shape the way we work. It deserves to be read by anyone involved in or curious about psychoanalysis, the “impossible profession.”
*Reviewer
Rating Scale/ Échelle d’évaluation du réviseur
Excellent / Excellent
Very Good / Très bon
Good / Bon
Fair / Passable
Not recommended / Pas recommandé
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