Robert Waelder

Life and work

Waelder was the son of Jewish merchant Joseph Waelder. Waelder graduated from Maximilian Gymnasium with honors in 1918; he received a doctorate in physics in 1921.

Waelder contacted Sigmund Freud in 1922 to inquire about treatment, and was referred to Hans Jokl. He later trained under Anna Freud and Hermann Nunberg and in 1924 became a member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society.

In 1936 Waelder presented his critique of the teachings of Melanie Klein at a conference held by the Viennese school and in 1936 published "The Problem of the Genesis of Psychical Conflict".

Waelder later presented "The Psychological Aspects of International Affairs" to the Royal Institute of International Affairs, a work on psychology and politics and suggested how psychoanalytic techniques might be applied to the study of war or conflict.

As a representative of the Viennese analysts, and within the context of an exchange of views, in 1936 Waelder presented in London his critique of the teachings of Melanie Klein; "The Problem of the Genesis of Psychical Conflict" was published in 1936. Waelder also presented to the Royal Institute of International Affairs his work on psychology and politics, which was published as "The Psychological Aspects of International Affairs" and suggested how psychoanalytic notions might be applied to the study of war; in a similar vein, he had written a short study on collective psychoses

In 1930 Waelder published in German Principle of Multiple Function (Internationale Zeitschift fur Psychoanalyse, 1930, 16: 286-300; it was translated in English in 1936: The principle of multiple function: observations on over-determination. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 1936, 5: 45-62; reprint: 2007, 76: 75-92). In it Waelder widened Freud's formulation of psychological symptoms, hypothesising they were caused by and relieved conflict simultaneously. Symptoms, such as phobias and compulsions, each represent elements of some internal drive like superego, anxiety, reality, and defenses.

Waelder was one of the first to create a structured analysis of love, according to Martin S. Bergmann. Similar to the sketches Freud made, Waelder states that an ideal partner must recreate early childhood imprints, and create a connection with the subconscious ego that is both alive – containing friction – but must also create a mental balance. Quote: "To Waelder, love was an act of integration of a high order, a tribute to the ego's capacity to bring together harmoniously wishes of the Id, demands of the repetition compulsion, the demands of the superego, and the claims of reality. The love object chosen must be sexually gratifying, connected unconsciously to love objects in one's past (mother, father figures, etc. ed), sufficiently admired to meet the approval of the superego, and appropriate in meeting the demands of reality." – Martin S. Bergmann, The Anatomy of Loving: The Story of Man's Quest to Know What Love Is.

Waelder's first marriage was to fellow member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, Jenny Pollak. In 1938, he emigrated to the United States and taught at the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute. In 1963, he was appointed professor of psychoanalysis at the psychiatry department of Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.

Waelder died of heart failure on September 28, 1967, in Broomall, Pennsylvania.