author
Otto Rank
1884–1939
A bold early psychoanalyst, he helped expand Freud’s ideas into myth, art, and creativity before breaking away to develop a more independent, human-centered approach. His work on birth trauma, will, and therapy went on to influence later psychology far beyond the original Freudian circle.
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About the author
Born in Vienna in 1884 as Otto Rosenfeld, he became one of Sigmund Freud’s closest collaborators in the early years of psychoanalysis. He served as secretary of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, edited important psychoanalytic journals, and wrote influential early books that connected psychoanalysis with legend, myth, literature, and art.
Rank is especially remembered for pushing psychoanalytic thought in new directions. In The Myth of the Birth of the Hero and later in The Trauma of Birth, he explored how creativity, symbolism, and early emotional experience shape human life. His growing differences with Freud eventually led to a break, but they also marked him out as one of the first major thinkers to move beyond strict orthodox psychoanalysis.
In his later years, Rank worked in Paris and the United States, developing a more direct and relationship-focused style of therapy. That later work, with its emphasis on will, creativity, and the living bond between therapist and patient, helped shape later humanistic and existential approaches. He died in New York City in 1939.