Walking a Mile in Freud’s Shoes: Psychology Professor Continues to Make a Case for Freud’s Enduring Relevance

Psychology professor Robert (Bob) Mendelsohn, PhD, has written two books that provide insights into the lasting value of Sigmund Freud, MD's contributions to psychoanalysis and psychotherapy.

For 50 years, Bob Mendelsohn, PhD, professor, has been training Adelphi psychologists in the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology by combining his passion for psychotherapy and psychoanalysis with a dose of humor-and by sharing his insights with a broader audience in two recently published books.

Bringing Freud Into the 21^st Century

Published in 2021, Freudian Thought for the Contemporary Clinician offers a persuasive framework for clinicians seeking to understand the continuing relevance of Sigmund Freud, MD's legacy as the father of talk therapy.

"It offers a different view of him by asking readers to walk a mile in his shoes and putting themselves in his position. Talk therapy was Dr. Freud's greatest contribution, as he helped people give voice to struggles that they had either kept to themselves or which had led to emotional turmoil," Dr. Mendelsohn said. "We can see how revolutionary his work was by recognizing his ability to see the unsaid."

It's currently a volume that is on display at Freud Museum London, as a surprising photo sent to him by a former student attests. "I grew up in Queens. When I saw the picture, I said, But 'I'm from Queens,'" he recalled with typically disparaging humor.

A Prestigious Nomination

Nominated for a National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis 2024 Gradiva Award, Dr. Mendelsohn's 2023 Case Formulation in Contemporary Psychotherapy is essential reading for mental health professionals and would-be clinicians alike.

Dr. Mendelsohn offers a fresh approach to conceptualizing and understanding clinical cases, including by applying the principles of talk therapy to cases when needed. To him, the role of the psychotherapist is to listen closely to help patients correlate their present problems with their past histories. It is by this shift in perspective, he insists, that healing can begin.

From Rock-and-Roll Drummer to Adelphi Professor

Dr. Mendelsohn's path to Adelphi was surprisingly indirect. As a teen in Queens, he was expected to work in Key Food, the family run co-op, on weekends. Instead, he learned to play the drums, becoming involved with legendary musician Al Kooper, known for his work with everyone from Bob Dylan to the music group Blood, Sweat & Tears, and who set the young aspiring drummer up with a band. "I'm a performer and a shrink. I played with The Ronettes for two years and as a teacher I get up in front of the class and perform," he said. "And I still keep a set of drums in my basement."

Even as he was successfully drumming in Greenwich Village, his Aunt Mildred-a protégée of celebrated psychoanalyst Theodore Reich, MD-took him aside and asked him what he was doing with his life.

"I subsequently buried my head in books and got my doctorate from the University of Massachusetts," Dr. Mendelsohn recollected. "As an extern in a western Massachusetts hospital, I went to hear Gordon Derner talk. A few years later, while visiting Adelphi, I ran into Derner. He remembered me-and by 1974 I had joined the faculty."

Making Lasting Connections

For Dr. Mendelsohn, teaching gives him meaning and purpose, and keeps him young. "I've taught for so many years and am supposed to be an expert," he confessed. "Yet I continue to learn from my students.

"My whole family is Derner: My wife, Robin, is a psychologist; my daughter went to Emory University and then to Derner for her PhD. When my wife and mother-in-law stood when she was hooded as she received her degree, it was very moving."

In addition to Freudian Thought for the Contemporary Clinician and Case Formulation in Contemporary Psychotherapy, Dr. Mendelsohn is the author of A Three-Factor Model of Couples Therapy. Yet his Adelphi students aren't the only ones reading his books: Many of his former doctoral students are themselves teaching with them.

"A doctoral graduate who is practicing in a Black North Philadelphia neighborhood called to tell me that he had thought of something I'd said 15 years ago in class," he reported. "If I can make that kind of connection to others, from my teaching and mentoring, it feels like I have the kind of influence that will make a difference and be around after I'm gone."