Paul Federn was an important figure in the early development of psychoanalysis. He was, besides Sigmund Freud himself, the only founding member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society who was still a member when the society was disbanded by the Nazis in 1938. He was also an early pioneer in the use of psychoanalysis toward the understanding and treatment of psychosis, and was among the very first to consider the importance of the ego to psychoanalytic understanding of the mind and mental illness. This dissertation examines Federn’s key ideas-- ego-feeling and ego-boundaries-- their influence on later psychoanalytic formulations by Winnicott, Lewin, Isakower, Loewald, Anzieu and others, and their practical use in understanding clinical material, the psychoanalytic setting and in organizing and understanding the various forms of therapeutic action.
","abstract_html":"<p>Paul Federn was an important figure in the early development of psychoanalysis. He was, besides Sigmund Freud himself, the only founding member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society who was still a member when the society was disbanded by the Nazis in 1938. He was also an early pioneer in the use of psychoanalysis toward the understanding and treatment of psychosis, and was among the very first to consider the importance of the ego to psychoanalytic understanding of the mind and mental illness. This dissertation examines Federn’s key ideas-- ego-feeling and ego-boundaries-- their influence on later psychoanalytic formulations by Winnicott, Lewin, Isakower, Loewald, Anzieu and others, and their practical use in understanding clinical material, the psychoanalytic setting and in organizing and understanding the various forms of therapeutic action.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Selinger, Samuel"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Lissa Weinstein","Elliot Jurist","Christopher Christian"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:59Z","subjects":["ego","Federn","Freud","psychoanalysis","Winnicott","Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1019","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Lissa Weinstein","Elliot Jurist","Christopher Christian"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Selinger, Samuel"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-08-04T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["ego","Federn","Freud","psychoanalysis","Winnicott","Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1019"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Paul Federn was an important figure in the early development of psychoanalysis. He was, besides Sigmund Freud himself, the only founding member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society who was still a member when the society was disbanded by the Nazis in 1938. He was also an early pioneer in the use of psychoanalysis toward the understanding and treatment of psychosis, and was among the very first to consider the importance of the ego to psychoanalytic understanding of the mind and mental illness. This dissertation examines Federn’s key ideas-- ego-feeling and ego-boundaries-- their influence on later psychoanalytic formulations by Winnicott, Lewin, Isakower, Loewald, Anzieu and others, and their practical use in understanding clinical material, the psychoanalytic setting and in organizing and understanding the various forms of therapeutic action.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Ego-Feeling and Ego-Boundaries: An Examination of the Work and Legacy of Paul Federn"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Lissa Weinstein","Elliot Jurist","Christopher Christian"],"dc:creator":["Selinger, Samuel"],"dc:date.available":["2022-08-04T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Paul Federn was an important figure in the early development of psychoanalysis. He was, besides Sigmund Freud himself, the only founding member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society who was still a member when the society was disbanded by the Nazis in 1938. He was also an early pioneer in the use of psychoanalysis toward the understanding and treatment of psychosis, and was among the very first to consider the importance of the ego to psychoanalytic understanding of the mind and mental illness. This dissertation examines Federn’s key ideas-- ego-feeling and ego-boundaries-- their influence on later psychoanalytic formulations by Winnicott, Lewin, Isakower, Loewald, Anzieu and others, and their practical use in understanding clinical material, the psychoanalytic setting and in organizing and understanding the various forms of therapeutic action.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1019"],"dc:subject":["ego","Federn","Freud","psychoanalysis","Winnicott","Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy"],"dc:title":["Ego-Feeling and Ego-Boundaries: An Examination of the Work and Legacy of Paul Federn"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:59Z"}