Ludwig Binswanger, pioneer of existential psychology

Ludwig Binswanger was a Swiss psychiatrist and writer who introduced the term Daseinsanalyze in the field of psychoanalysis. With this idea he made us see that human beings are open to any experience. The patient’s psyche, therefore, is not an isolated entity reduced to its own processes. The context in which he is involved and how he interprets it also defines his behavior.

Few figures of the psychoanalytic school were as united as Biswanger and Sigmund Freud. Although they maintained great differences on a theoretical level, they always admired each other. They maintained an abundant correspondence with each other and even Freud himself offered him refuge during World War II. Together, and each from their own perspective, they enriched the foundations of this therapeutic school.

Ludwig Binswanger was the first existentialist psychiatrist. Its roots are nourished by the works of authors such as Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. This allowed him to approach the patient’s reality in a different way. That reduced vision was left aside, where only the pathological aspects of the person could be seen. For the first time, the reality surrounding human beings was addressed, as well as their circumstances and context.

In 1956 he received the Kraepelin medal, the highest distinction in the field of psychiatry. Likewise, he always had the admiration of the cultural society of the time. Artists, musicians, poets, writers and philosophers such as Ortega y Gasset, Martin Buber or Heidegger himself established friendships with this key figure in the history of psychology.

Ludwig Binswanger, a figure with his own voice within psychoanalysis

Ludwig Binswanger was born in Kreuzlingen, Switzerland, in 1881. We certainly cannot ignore the relevance of this European city as key to the cradle of psychoanalysis. At the beginning of the 20th century and at the University of Zurich itself, we could see such emblematic figures as Carl Jung and Eugen Bleuler gathered together.

Both were study colleagues of Binswanger himself, although as he himself would say later, The one who marked his professional and professional life was undoubtedly Sigmund Freud. Their friendship lasted a lifetime and was especially decisive when Binswanger was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in 1912. He gave him support and determination.

Once that ordeal was overcome, it didn’t take long for him to become part of the so-called “Freud Group” that theoretical core that Carl Jung himself led in Switzerland. Now, it should be noted that although he maintained a faithful friendship and admiration for Sigmund Freud, Ludwig Binswanger He had his own ideas about what, in his opinion, clinical psychiatry should be..

Pioneer of existential psychology

Ludwig Binswanger was medical director of the Bellevue sanatorium in Kreuzlingen, his hometown from 1911 to 1956. This internationally renowned clinic was founded by his grandfather and would also serve as a setting for him to innovate on new therapeutic bases. So much so, that if he is known for anything, it is for being the first doctor who combined psychotherapy with existential and phenomenological philosophy.

In 1942 he wrote a book titled Basic forms and the realization of “being-in-the-world” human. In this work he introduced the term Daseinsanalyze mentioned at the beginning, where to make use of existential analysis as an empirical science. Its purpose was undoubtedly the most innovative within the psychoanalytic field, and is based on the following premises:

Apply an anthropological approach to understanding patient behavior.He made use of Husserl’s life-world theory to understand patients’ subjective experiences.Mental illness is therefore not an isolated entity. It does not always respond to an individual and reduced process of the patient’s psyche. Those structural links that the being establishes with its world must also be taken into account. To understand pathologies, many more aspects had to be understood. For example, the way in which the individual experiences his reality, understanding how he feels it physically and emotionally. It is important, in turn, to understand what their social relationships are like.

Theoretical contributions

Ludwig Binswanger was a pioneer in the creation of the existential school of psychology. Thanks to him, we understood the complexities of human existence and the relevance this could have for the clinical field.

He wrote almost a hundred articles, books, reports and methodological criticisms of psychoanalysis. as Die drei Grundelemente des wissenschaftlichen Denkens bei Freud (The three fundamental elements of Freud’s scientific ideas; 1921).

He subjected psychoanalysis to a renewal. He discarded the methodology that had been used until then to introduce the bases of Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology and Wilhelm Dilthey’s hermeneutics.

In this new perspective, Binswanger in turn taught us that The person is free to build the type of existence they want. There will be those who want to dedicate their lives to art, others to business, others can dedicate themselves to helping others… Existence transcends being and each person can follow the existential path they choose.

In turn, he defined that there are three very specific types of existence:

He Umwelt: the world around us, that is, the relationship that all living beings have with our environment.He Mitwelt: the living being with the world. In this case Binswanger was referring to the relationships we establish between ourselves, between people.He Eigenwelt: one’s own world, referring to the subjective and personal experience of each individual.

Love can make us change

Another very interesting concept from Ludwig Binswanger was Being beyond the world. With this idea, the Swiss psychiatrist taught us that it is in our power to change the circumstances that cause us discomfort and unhappiness. We can do it because we have free will.

Even more, One of our characteristics, according to Binswanger’s existential approach, is to be able to transcend, to be able to move forward as we take steps towards new transformations. These changes can only occur through motivation and a motivating source is undoubtedly love. This dimension, that of the sincere affection that others give us and that we can give to ourselves, can lead us to new and better realities. To transform our own relationships and even the world itself.

The orientation of the thought initiated by Binswanger, the so-called Daseinanalyze (or existential analysis) spread throughout Europe and the United States in a short time. To this day, both his figure and his legacy continue to be one of the most interesting currents in contemporary psychology.

Ludwig Binswanger died in 1966 in his hometown of Kreuzlingen. He was 75 years old.