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Psy-350
Instructor Rebecca Morissey
Winter 2020

Final Case Study: Louise Bourgeois

The case of legendary artist Louise Bourgeois is one for the ages. Never have I

seen a person who has build up a world-class reputation for producing priceless works of

art and expression that have their direct origins in attempts at self-therapy and healing

done so publicly and honestly. While many artists – painters, musicians, etc. – find

healing from psychological trauma in their work, the notability of Bourgeois’s work as

directed attempts at piecing together the broken aspects of her life and psyche is unique.

Her works, such as “Maman,” and the works regarding to human anatomy and sexuality,

are rich with material from which a psychotherapist can frame and conceptualize her

story.

To me, it appears appropriate that based on Bourgeois’s life, art, and personal

goals of finding healing from trauma through self-expression, the personality theories of

Freud and Carl Jung can explain her personality development and subsequent actions

toward achieving personal wholeness through art.

Louise Bourgeois’s Life and Art From a Freudian Perspective

Much of Sigmund Freud’d views of early family relationships and their impact on

intrapersonal dynamics and personality development center around various concepts and

ideas that explain the individual’s connection (or lack thereof) to the world around him or

her. When it comes to intrapersonal conflict Freud appears to look at it as a sort of push

and pull between the cathexis and the anticathexis. Drapela’s definition of Freud’s

cathexis is “The movement of psychic energy from the originating subsystem toward a
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source of gratification” (p. 15). In the case of Bourgeois, since the source of her

gratification, as indicatd by her art, was external, it appears she had an object cathexis, in

which the psychic energy is placed toward an emotional attachment to an outside source,

in this case, her mother. From all accounts, Bourgeois appeared to idolize her mother.

That being the case, she seems to have gained a sense of satisfaction and gratification

from her maternal relationship. This positive feeling and idolization found symbolic

expression in her piece, “Maman,” in which she uses a spider to symbolize her mother,

drawing similarities between the two, using such endearing qualities as “clever,”

“helpful,” and “protective” (The Art.org, 2020) to describe her mother.

In contrast, the anticathexes are those factors that serve to rein in the

uncontrolled urges imposed by the id’s demand for a cathexis. In Bourgeois’s case, her

attachment to, and idolization of, her mother, was tempered by whatever unexplained

fears and feelings she harbored toward both and her parent, a fear and feeling of

inadequacy and alienation are products of the prohibitions that served to hear from her

superego.

The work of Louise Bourgeois, will known to be works of expression of the

artist’s traumatic childhood experiences, appear to be attempts at inducing catharsis for

the artist. According to Freud, catharsis is a phenomena in which the emotions a person

experiences as a result of traumatic experiences come to the surface (good therapy.org).

In cathartic theory, negative emotions, affects or behavior eliciting such emotions. For

Bourgeois, her outlet, or “purging” of emotions associated with her trauma came from

her artwork. According to Bourgeois, “I became an artist – to find a mode of survival.”

Not only was her artistry a way for Bourgeois to find catharsis, as a “mode of

survival,” her choice to channel her complex, and sometimes controversial and prohibited

sexual thoughts through artwork can be considered a form of sublimation, a Freudian

defense mechanism (of Anna Freud) in which a person seeks to channel unacceptable

impulses into a more socially acceptable and productive behavior. In Bourgeois’s case,

her impulses may have been sexually inexcusable, or aggressive, or self-harming. Her

expression through her art is a more socially acceptable form of getting those energies

out.

In Therapy, a Freudian counselor might focus on her conflicts and relationship

with her parents as a point of approach and utilize interventions that focus on helping the

client explore those relationships to gain greater insights into those feelings. Such

insights might be aimed at providing Bourgeois a wider range of options to act to resolve

her intrapersonal conflicts The therapist would be aware of her transference toward the

therapist, and use the observed dynamics as jumping points explore past relationships

with her early authority figures. The main goal of psychoanalytic therapeutic

interventions are to help Bourgeois gain insight into her past relationships.

Louise Bourgeois’s Life from a Jungian Perspective

Perhaps the most relevant Jungian concepts in Bourgeois’s case will be the

archetypes and complexes that she uses throughout her work. Mcleod (2018) uses Jung’s

definition of the archetype as “images and thoughts which have universal meanings

across cultures which may show up in dreams, literature, art, or religion.” Archetypes

such as the Great Mother, played by her own mother with whom she always felt a

connection and of whom she was always in awe. Bourgeois works appeared to often
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explore the more animalistic and instinctual side of herself, her “shadow,” if you will.

Her fixation on the symbolism of human genitalia seems to be a mode of expressing her

“other side,” the side she repressed and denied. Jung’s use of the concept of “complexes,”

entities that “usually evolve from constellations of experiences – thoughts, decisions, and

actions.” For Bourgeois, such art pieces as “Maman,” may depict her version of an

archetypt of the strong, protective type, a persona which she attributed to her mother and

qualities tht she lackedin her life since her mother’s death. A Jungian therapist would

probably view bourgeois’s use of symbolism to guide her intomunderstanding her own

use of symbolism and how the meanings behind that symbolism relate to how she views

herself. The Jungian therapist would probably view Bourgeois’s stated meanings behind

much of her work as an attempt at individuation, which may be her processing and

working out within herself just who she is meant to be in the world. The therapist would

explore her perspective on her relationship with her parents and to bring out the part s=s

of herself that she believes are broken due to her upbringing, and try to work toward

bringing her toward what Jung called, “wholeness,” or an integrated self (Truong). Jung’s

idea of complexes, defined by the Jung Lexicon as “The image of a certain psychic

situation which is strongly accentuated emotionally and is, moreover, incompatible with

the habitual attitude of consciousness.” [A Review of the complex Theory, CW 8, par.

201]. A Jungian therapist would explore Bourgeois’s thoughts and statements for signs of

particular complexes and attempt to elicit relevant information to generate insight to

foster greater self-awareness, and therefore, greater sense of self –discovery and self-

efficacy.
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Strengths and Weaknesses of Using a Freudian Approach

Many of Bourgeois’s life aspects, specifically her relationship with her parents, as

well as her use of painting to channel potentially inappropriate or destructive impulses as

a response to her childhood trauma, fit Freud’s theory well. In addition, the sexual nature

of many of the art pieces she produced went hand-in-hand with Freud’s view of the very

nature of personality development. Unfortunately, in my opinion, too much emphasis is

placed on sexual repression and of conflicts arising from sexual means.

Strengths and Weaknesses Using a Jungian Approach

Using the Jungian approach, we can see Bourgeois’s story in the context of a

larger whole. The concepts of the archetype and of mental complexes are very interesting

and can help explain many behaviors and ways of interacting with people. Strengths

include the ability to categorize and frame entire clusters of behavior or thinking using

archetypes. One can view a situation or an interaction and immediately peg the archetype,

and thus the characteristics of the situation. For Bourgeois, we kinda have a picture of

what some of her complexes or conflicts are, based on her work. A therapist would have

to meet and delve further into her consciousness.

Conclusion

For me, framing Louise Bourgeois’s story in both Freud’s and Jung’s theories was

an interesting exercise. The fact that two different theories, with different outlooks on

what is an appropriate intervention, can be run through this particular story, shows that

the human element of helping amongst the helpers is real. Both theories have ways that

they view the individual that differs from the other. I have learned a great deal from

using case studies.

References

Drapela, V.J. (1995) A Review of personality Theories. Charles C. Tomas.

TheArtStory.org, (2020) Louise Bourgeois, Artist Overview and Analysis (Internet)

McLeod, S.A. (2018, May 21), Carl Jung, Simply Psychology

Truong, H.I. (n.d.) https://www.drhttruong.com What is Jungian Counseling?