Sergei Pankejeff: Who Was the Wolf Man?

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsFreud’s Analysis of the Wolf ManCriticism of Freud’s Analysis

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Table of Contents

Freud’s Analysis of the Wolf Man

Criticism of Freud’s Analysis

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Sergei Pankejeff was a patient ofSigmund Freudwho gave him the case name “Wolf Man” to protect his identity. Pankejeff was born to a wealthy family from Odessa.

Much ofFreud’s analysiscentered on a dream that Pankejeff had as a young child:

“I dreamt that it was night and that I was lying in bed. (My bed stood with its foot towards the window; in front of the window there was a row of old walnut trees. I know it was winter when I had the dream, and night-time.)

Suddenly the window opened of its own accord, and I was terrified to see that some white wolves were sitting on the big walnut tree in front of the window. There were six or seven of them.

The wolves were quite white, and looked more like foxes or sheep-dogs, for they had big tails like foxes and they had their ears pricked like dogs when they pay attention to something.

It took quite a long while before I was convinced that it had only been a dream; I had had such a clear and life-like picture of the window opening and the wolves sitting on the tree. At last I grew quieter, felt as though I had escaped from some danger, and went to sleep again.”

Freud believed thatthe dreamwas the result of Pankejeff having witnessed his parents having sex. The case of the “Wolf Man” played an important role in Freud’s development of histheory of psychosexual development.

Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development

After four years of treatment, Freud declared Pankejeff “cured,” and the man returned to Russia. Despite Freud’s assessment that the problem had been resolved, Pankejeff continued to seek psychoanalysis, often from followers of Freud, until his death in 1979.

Psychologist and science writer Daniel Goleman criticized Freud’s analysis and treatment of Pankejeff inThe New York Times, writing:

“Freud’s key intervention with the Wolf Man rested on a nightmare in which he was lying in bed and saw some white wolves sitting on a tree in front of the open window. Freud deduced that the dream symbolized a trauma: that the Wolf Man, as a toddler, had witnessed his parents having intercourse.”

Pankejeff believed that “the whole thing is improbable,” since families like his often had young children sleep in their nanny’s bedroom, not with their parents.

As for Freud “curing” him, Pankejeff refuted the claim, saying that he resented being “propaganda” and “a showpiece for psychoanalysis.” According to Pankejeff, “That was the theory, that Freud had cured me ‘100%’. It’s all false.”

An Overview of Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams

2 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Umansky O.The Wolf Man’s Russia.American Imago. 2019;76(4):465-483.Grigg R.Treating the Wolf Man as a case of ordinary psychosis.Culture/Clinic.2013;1:86-98. doi:10.5749/cultclin.1.2013.0086Additional ReadingGoleman D.As a therapist, Freud fell short, scholars find.The New York Times. Published March 6, 1990.Obholzer K.Wolfman: Conversations with Freud’s Patient Sixty Years Later. Shaw M, trans. Continuum International Publication Group; 1982.Freud, S.From the History of an Infantile Neurosis.1918.

2 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Umansky O.The Wolf Man’s Russia.American Imago. 2019;76(4):465-483.Grigg R.Treating the Wolf Man as a case of ordinary psychosis.Culture/Clinic.2013;1:86-98. doi:10.5749/cultclin.1.2013.0086Additional ReadingGoleman D.As a therapist, Freud fell short, scholars find.The New York Times. Published March 6, 1990.Obholzer K.Wolfman: Conversations with Freud’s Patient Sixty Years Later. Shaw M, trans. Continuum International Publication Group; 1982.Freud, S.From the History of an Infantile Neurosis.1918.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Umansky O.The Wolf Man’s Russia.American Imago. 2019;76(4):465-483.Grigg R.Treating the Wolf Man as a case of ordinary psychosis.Culture/Clinic.2013;1:86-98. doi:10.5749/cultclin.1.2013.0086

Umansky O.The Wolf Man’s Russia.American Imago. 2019;76(4):465-483.

Grigg R.Treating the Wolf Man as a case of ordinary psychosis.Culture/Clinic.2013;1:86-98. doi:10.5749/cultclin.1.2013.0086

Goleman D.As a therapist, Freud fell short, scholars find.The New York Times. Published March 6, 1990.Obholzer K.Wolfman: Conversations with Freud’s Patient Sixty Years Later. Shaw M, trans. Continuum International Publication Group; 1982.Freud, S.From the History of an Infantile Neurosis.1918.

Goleman D.As a therapist, Freud fell short, scholars find.The New York Times. Published March 6, 1990.

Obholzer K.Wolfman: Conversations with Freud’s Patient Sixty Years Later. Shaw M, trans. Continuum International Publication Group; 1982.

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