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Summing up many years of work, in which there were finds of intuition, research and healing, the creator of psychogenealogy, Ann Anselin Schutzenberger, talks about her method and how difficult it was for him to win recognition.
Psychologies: How did you come up with psychogenealogy?
Ann Anselin Schutzenberger: I coined the term “psychogeneology” in the early 1980s to explain to my psychology students at the University of Nice what family ties are, how they are passed on, and how the chain of generations generally “works.” But this was already the result of certain research and the result of my twenty years of clinical experience.
Did you first receive a classical psychoanalytic education?
A. A. Š .: Not really. In the early 1950s, after completing my studies in the United States and returning to my homeland, I wanted to talk to an anthropologist. I chose as a psychoanalyst a specialist in this field, the director of the Museum of Man, Robert Jessen, who had previously worked as a doctor on expeditions to the North Pole. In a sense, it was he who opened the door to the world of intergenerational relations for me, telling me about this Eskimo custom: if a man dies on a hunt, his share of the booty goes to his grandson.
Robert Jessen said that one day, entering the igloo, he heard with great surprise how the hostess respectfully turned to her baby with the words: “Grandfather, if you allow, we will invite this stranger to eat with us.” And a few minutes later she was talking to him again like a child.
This story opened my eyes to the roles that we get, on the one hand, in our own family, and on the other hand, under the influence of our ancestors.
All children know about what is happening in the house, especially what is hidden from them.
Then, after Jessen, there was Françoise Dolto: at that time it was considered good form, having already completed your analysis, to look at it as well.
And so I come to Dolto, and the first thing she asks me to tell about the sex life of my great-grandmothers. I answer that I have no idea about this, since I found my great-grandmothers already widows. And she reproachfully: “All children know about what is happening in the house, especially what is hidden from them. Look for…”
And finally, the third important point. One day a friend asked me to meet her relative who was dying of cancer. I went to her house and in the living room I saw a portrait of a very beautiful woman. It turned out that this was the patient’s mother, who died of cancer at the age of 34. The woman I came to was then the same age.
From that moment on, I began to pay special attention to the dates of anniversaries, places of events, illnesses … and their recurrence in the chain of generations. Thus, psychogenealogy was born.
Other methods of working with family history
American psychotherapist Virginia Satyr applied the method of family reconstruction, restoring connections and details of interaction in three generations.
Method of the German psychotherapist Bert Hellinger is a psychogenealogical therapy that helps to identify family unconscious scripts. It is based on family constellation: a person participates in scenes that clarify the discrepancy between the structure of the ideal family and the family myth.
In psychodrama, the genre of “ancestor drama” is well known: by acting out the life of one of your relatives, identifying with him, you can understand how his (former) feelings and actions affect our lives.
What was the reaction of the psychoanalytic community?
A. A. Š .: The psychoanalysts did not know me, and some people probably thought I was a dreamer or a lunatic. But it doesn’t matter. I don’t think they’re my equal, with a few exceptions. I do group analysis, I do psychodrama, I do things they despise.
I don’t fit in with them, but I don’t care. I love to open doors and I know that psychogenealogy will show its effectiveness in the future. And then, orthodox Freudianism also changes over time.
At the same time, you met with incredible interest from the public…
A. A. Š .: Psychogenealogy appeared at a time when more and more people became interested in their ancestors and felt the need to find their roots. However, I even regret that everyone was so carried away.
Today, anyone can claim to be using psychogenealogy without having a serious training, which should include both higher specialized education and clinical work. Some are so ignorant in this area that they make gross errors in analysis and interpretation, leading their clients astray.
Those who are looking for a specialist need to make inquiries about the professionalism and qualifications of people who undertake to help them, and not act on the principle: “everyone around him goes, I will go too.”
“I stopped blaming myself”
Karina, 36 years old, insurance agent
Two years after the birth of my daughter, I, unable to withstand constant quarrels, left my husband. Somehow, in a casual conversation with my aunt, I found out that my grandmother’s husband was not my mother’s real father. Moreover, for several generations, the eldest daughters in our family were born out of wedlock. I was shocked by this discovery.
A psychogenealogist helped me understand that, after parting with my husband, I involuntarily repeat the family script. Perhaps, for the first time, I thought about how many mistakes I made in my family life. I don’t know if I’ll dare to talk about this with my ex-husband, but I stopped blaming myself.
Do you feel that what is rightfully yours has been taken from you?
A. A. Š .: Yes. And I am also used by those who apply my method without understanding its essence.
Ideas and words, being put into circulation, continue to live their own lives. I have no control over the use of the term “psychogeneology.” But I would like to reiterate that psychogenealogy is a method like any other. It is neither a panacea nor a master key: it is just another tool to explore your history and your roots.
No need to oversimplify: psychogenealogy is not about applying a certain matrix or finding simple cases of recurring dates that do not always mean something in and of themselves – we risk falling into an unhealthy “coincidence mania”. It is also difficult to engage in psychogenealogy on your own, alone. The therapist’s eye is needed to follow all the intricacies of thought associations and reservations, as in any analysis and in any psychotherapy.
Bernard’s genosociogram, 33 years old
When Bernard was 33 years old, he began to get sick, got into traffic accidents …
Together with Ann Anselin Schutzenberger, he compiled his genosociogram and found that his older brother Lucien died at 33, and in four generations of the family, nine children (all of their names began with “Lu”: Lucien, Luc, Lucy or Lucienne) died young from for accidents. It turned out that his great-grandfather and great-grandmother (Lucien and Maria) were adopted children in the same family, but, as adults, they got married, thereby committing a “genealogical incest“. Since then, the family seemed to punish itself by “sacrifice” the descendants from this marriage.
Realizing that he himself was unconsciously trying to repeat their fate, Bernard freed himself from the family scenario.
The success of your method shows that many people do not find their place in the family and suffer from this. Why is it so difficult?
A. A. Š .: Because we are being lied to. Because some things are hidden from us, and silence entails suffering. Therefore, we must try to understand why we took this particular place in the family, trace the chain of generations in which we are only one of the links, and think about how we can free ourselves.
There always comes a moment when you need to accept your history, the family that you got. You can’t change the past. You can protect yourself from him if you know him. That’s all. By the way, psychogenealogy is also interested in the joys that have become milestones in the life of the family. Digging in your family garden is not to accumulate troubles and suffering for yourself, but to deal with them if the ancestors did not do this.
“I’m safe for my child”
Victoria, 42, psychoanalyst
By the time I got pregnant, I had been undergoing personal psychoanalysis for several years. It was not clear why I suddenly overtook the strongest fear for the unborn child. Moreover: I began to be haunted by dreams of stillborn children. I had no health problems, nothing bothered the doctors, and I could not understand the reason for what was happening to me.
While studying my genosociogram, I noticed a coincidence: several generations of my family had dead children, and my mother was a replacement child, shortly after the death of her brother. That was enough for me to stop being afraid. My son was born safely, at his term. And I’m fine.
So why do we need psychogenealogy?
A. A. Š .: To say to myself: “No matter what happened in my family past, no matter what my ancestors did and experienced, no matter what they hide from me, my family is my family, and I accept it because I cannot change “. Working on your family past means learning to step back from it and take the thread of life, your life, into your own hands. And when the time comes, pass it on to your children with a calmer soul.
“I freed myself from my fear”
Natalia, 28 years old, secretary
At the age of 18, I decided to learn how to drive a car. But a strong irrational fear prevented me: I was afraid that, having received my license, I would definitely get into a car accident. A psychogenealogist helped me put the facts together and understand what exactly was causing my fear.
Only on the genosociogram did I see that my family had been haunted for generations by death as a result of car accidents. My father, grandfather and great-grandfather died on the roads in different years, leaving behind widows and orphans. When I realized this, I felt a weight lifted from my shoulders.
I got my license, but I still don’t like to drive. I think this is not connected with the history of my family: I completely freed myself from my fear.