Maud Mannoni
Encyclopedia
Maud Mannoni was a French psychoanalyst of Belgian origin, who married Octave Mannoni
and became a major figure of the Lacanian movement
.
, married Octave Mannoni, and had both analysis and training analysis with Jacques Lacan, who she supported during the 1953 split'.
'After the 1963 split...he [Lacan] took many representatives of the third generation with him...among them were Maud and Octave Mannoni, Serge Leclaire
...and Jean Clavreul'.
'Maud Mannoni's revolutionary influence on an entire generation of child therapists, analysts, teachers, and parents in France began in 1964' with that work.
, a community live-in project for kids with autism
and psychosis
. In doing so, she has been described as 'profoundly influenced by the antipsychiatry of R. Laing and D. Cooper
', an influence which can also be seen perhaps in 'her view of the child as "spokesperson" for the dysfunctional family
'. Bonneuil as an institution 'which operated beyond traditional boundaries and used a variety of therapeutic strategies...became internationally renowned'.
She was also instrumental in establishing LVA - "A Place to Live and Hospitality" - small medico-social support centres of which there were 446 by 2007.
Octave Mannoni
Dominique-Octave Mannoni was a French psychoanalyst and author. After spending more than twenty years in Madagascar, Mannoni returned to France after World War II where he, inspired by Lacan, published several psychoanalytic books and articles...
and became a major figure of the Lacanian movement
Lacanian movement
The Lacanian movement is the termed used for that brand of Freudian psychoanalysis derived from the work of Jacques Lacan.The exact status of the Lacanian movement in relation to the work of Freud has been problematic: Lacan himself is famously reported as informing his followers, 'It is up to you...
.
Life
Maud (Magdalena) Mannoni (Maiden name Van der Spoel) 'was born on October 22, 1923 in the Belgian city of Combrai, and spent her early childhood in Colombo, Ceylon'. She 'studied criminology at the University of Brussels and began a training analysis with Maurice Dugautiez, one of the first Belgian psychoanalysts'. After moving to France in 1949, she 'met Francoise DoltoFrançoise Dolto
Françoise Dolto , was a French doctor and psychoanalyst, famous for her research on babies and childhood. Dolto revolutionized the field of psycho-therapeutic work with babies and with the mother baby dyad....
, married Octave Mannoni, and had both analysis and training analysis with Jacques Lacan, who she supported during the 1953 split'.
'After the 1963 split...he [Lacan] took many representatives of the third generation with him...among them were Maud and Octave Mannoni, Serge Leclaire
Serge Leclaire
Serge Leclaire was a French psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. Initially analyzed by Jacques Lacan, he 'became the first French "Lacanian".'.Subsequently he developed into 'one of the most respected and distinguished of all French analysts'.-Career:...
...and Jean Clavreul'.
On the backward child
Lacan, in the first of his seminars to be published, singled out 'our colleague Maud Mannoni, [with] a book that has just come out and which I would recommend you to read...The Retarded Child and the Mother '. In it she concludes that 'the ego of the subnormal patient is not separate from his mother'. Instead, the roots of such psychoses 'are inscribed in the maternal unconscious, with the psychotic child being unrecognized as a desiring subject...and frozen as partial object subjected to maternal omnipotence'.'Maud Mannoni's revolutionary influence on an entire generation of child therapists, analysts, teachers, and parents in France began in 1964' with that work.
Support centres and anti-psychiatry
Mannoni specialised in mental illness in children, and in 1969 established the school of Bonneuil-sur-MarneBonneuil-sur-Marne
Bonneuil-sur-Marne is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-Transport:Bonneuil-sur-Marne is served by no station of the Paris Métro, RER, or suburban rail network. The closest station to Bonneuil-sur-Marne is Sucy – Bonneuil station...
, a community live-in project for kids with autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
and psychosis
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
. In doing so, she has been described as 'profoundly influenced by the antipsychiatry of R. Laing and D. Cooper
David Cooper (psychiatrist)
David Graham Cooper was a British psychiatrist, theorist and leader in the anti-psychiatry movement....
', an influence which can also be seen perhaps in 'her view of the child as "spokesperson" for the dysfunctional family
Dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
'. Bonneuil as an institution 'which operated beyond traditional boundaries and used a variety of therapeutic strategies...became internationally renowned'.
She was also instrumental in establishing LVA - "A Place to Live and Hospitality" - small medico-social support centres of which there were 446 by 2007.
Wider influences
After Lacan's death, and the fragmentation of the Lacanian movement, Maud Mannoni, 'still a member of the IPA through her affiliation with the Belgian society, play[ed] a unifying role similar to that of Serge Leclaire'. Mannoni's 'unique integration of the theories of Lacan and Winnicott drew wide attention to new perspectives on the theory of child development'.Further reading
- Juliet Mitchell and Jacqueline Rose eds., Feminine Sexuality (New York 1982)
- Maud Mannoni, Le Psychiatre, son "fou", et le Psychanalyse (Paris 1970)