Implantation of Psychoanalytic Ideas in the Uruguayan Psychotherapeutic Field (1930-1960)

Abstract

In Uruguay and in almost all of Latin America, psychoanalysis has historically had a strong influence on psychotherapeutic practices. Based on discourse analysis, this research addresses the implantation of psychoanalytic ideas in the Uruguayan psychotherapeutic field during the period between 1930 and 1960. The corpus was built from scientific journals (Archivos de Pediatría del Uruguay, Revista de Psiquiatría del Uruguay, Revista Uruguaya de Psicoanálisis) and
books published at the time, and shows different modes of reception of psychoanalytic ideas. In addition, and based on the identification of psychotherapeutic actions and efficacy indicators, different ways in which psychoanalytic notions and concepts determined treatments orientation were analyzed. The results allow a better understanding of
the scope that psychoanalytic ideas have had historically in the psychotherapeutic field, while shedding light on the role they play today.