The presentation of the paper On counter-transference at the 1949 Psychoanalytical Congress in Zurich triggered a significant intellectual schism within the Kleinian school. Paula Heimann argued that the therapist’s emotional reaction to a patient represented a critical instrument for diagnostic exploration, directly contradicting the prevailing view that such responses were merely obstacles to effective clinical analysis.
Early Education and Professional Beginnings
Born in the Danzig Government Region in 1899, Paula Klatzko pursued medical studies in Königsberg, Berlin, and Frankfurt before successfully passing her Staatsexamen in Breslau. During this period, she married the physician Franz Heimann. The couple relocated to Heidelberg, where she completed her psychiatric training between 1924 and 1927. Following the birth of their daughter, Mirza, in 1925, she initiated psychoanalytic training under Theodor Reik in 1929 while maintaining involvement in the International Society of Doctors Against War.
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The rise of political instability necessitated the Heimann family’s departure from Germany in 1933. While her husband emigrated to Switzerland, Paula Heimann and her daughter settled in London. By 1934, she assumed the role of secretary to Melanie Klein, a collaboration that evolved into a close professional partnership by 1935. In 1938, she attained membership in the British Psychoanalytical Society after delivering a lecture titled A contribution to the problem of sublimation, having also passed her state medical examination in Edinburgh that same year.
Theoretical Divergence and Independent Practice
Heimann’s 1949 paper challenged the core doctrine held by Melanie Klein, who maintained that countertransference was exclusively a technical hindrance. This theoretical clash led Heimann to depart from the Kleinian group and align herself with the Independents. In her later practice, she provided training analysis for figures including Alexander Mitscherlich and Margarete Mitscherlich. Her academic contributions persisted through various publications, such as her 1974 work Bemerkungen zur Sublimierung, until her death in London in 1982.
Fast facts
- Born: 1899, Danzig Government Region
- Died: 1982, London
- Education: University of Wrocław; Heidelberg University
- Primary Field: Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis
- Key Publication: On countertransference (1950)
- Professional Membership: British Psychoanalytical Society
- Citizenship: Germany, United Kingdom
Questions readers ask
What was the significance of Paula Heimann's view on countertransference?
She redefined countertransference from being merely a therapeutic problem to an essential tool for understanding a patient's unconscious mind.
Why did Paula Heimann leave the Kleinian group?
Her 1949 paper on countertransference created a rift with Melanie Klein, who disagreed with Heimann's assessment of the therapist's emotional reactions.
Achievements
- Fields: psychiatry
