Reik, Theodor (1888–1969)

Austrian-born US psychoanalyst. He emphasized the role of intuition in a psychoanalyst's treatment and diverged from certain orthodox Freudian views, including the emphasis on the sexual nature of human beings, but maintained his friendship with Freud until the latter's death. His many works include Listening With the Third Ear 1948, Of Love and Lust 1957, and Curiosities of the Self 1965.

He was born in Vienna. He became a close friend and protégé of Sigmund Freud after they met in 1910. He took a PhD in psychology from the University of Vienna, and after serving in the German army during World War I, he practised as a psychoanalyst in Vienna 1918–28, where he participated in Freud's Wednesday evening meetings. After 1928 he taught at the Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute until 1933, when he fled the Nazis to The Hague, Holland. In 1938 he emigrated to the USA where he established a private practice in New York City. He became a US citizen in 1944. In 1946 he established the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis when the American Psychoanalytic Association refused him full membership due to his not being a physician – even though Freud himself had written a famous essay in 1926, defending Reik's right to practise.