The Ninth Street Center What People Say About Us

Paul Rosenfels and the Creativity of Gayness
by Bob Ledwidge & Jane Wallace

Paul Rosenfels was an influential psychiatrist who did much to assist in the modern understanding of homosexuality, he broke with psychoanalysis in the 1940's and developed his own understanding of the psychology of the individual with a refined and expanded understanding of relationships. While Rosenfels' psychology may be said to have a lot in common with both depth psychology and the work of Jung, Rosenfels worked to make his system one that could be applied in the here and now rather than dwelling in the more aetherial dimensions Jung seemed to inhabit. Rosenfels accepted Jung's system of character analysis but refined it, using the same introverted and extroverted character types as Jung but showing they could exist within mutually beneficial relationships and did not need to be isolated in their own worlds. He took this understanding and applying it to homosexuality proved that it could be a valid lifestyle which could involved real love and affection and was not just "an infantile" stage within the Freudian sequence of sexual development. He was the first American psychiatrist to defend homosexuality in print.

While many pioneers of modern psychology did not see homosexuality as an aberration, indeed Freud himself in his "Letter to An American Mother" stated: "Homosexuality is assuredly no advantage, but it is nothing to be ashamed of, no vice, no degradation, it can not be classified as an illness; we consider it to be a variation of sexual functions produced by a certain arrest of sexual development." Later psychology became more and more hostile with the result being that homosexuality was being treated as a metal illness with related excesses and stigmatisation. While many texts were written espousing a more liberal view of homosexuality, from a political, social, even religious angle, Rosenfels' work on the creative power of homosexuality was groundbreaking. In his essay entitled Homosexuality: The Psychology of the Creative Process, Rosenfels broke rank with many in American psychology and suggested that there was a unique and creative character to homosexuality, while others were seeing abnormality, he was seeing an opportunity for growth and inner development.

This opportunity for growth is central to the whole of Rosenfels' work. Which begins with the assumption that the goal of "civilized living is to reach a state of contentment and happiness." He believes that it is from this everything flows, while Freud and Jung would agree with this foundation, it is the next step which sets Rosenfels apart. He argues that the individual must adapt and grow and this requires psychic energies, but adaptation does not exhaust them; there is a "psychic surplus." This "psychic surplus" overflow can be channelled into the service of psychological growth which is, for Rosenfels, the foundation of happiness. Psychological growth requires an "inner identity" on the part of each individual, and this identity involves two capacities: love and power. Rosenfels' understanding is complex and cannot be easily summarised, but since love and power are the basis of the quest for happiness, then romance and relationships are an integral part of our quest. Since within all of us are male and female archetypes, then within all there is a certainly androgyny, even a psychic hermaphrodism and hence in everyone, to some extent or another, is a homosexual side. The homosexual, hence, is not abnormal but simply expressing an aspect of him or her self which others have, but do not express. This view in some ways goes beyond genital sexuality and sees sexuality as part of the continuum that is the individual. It is revolutionary and challenging paradigm even today.

The Ninth Street Center was founded in 1973 to promote the work of Paul Rosenfels, it continues to teach and pass on what he learned but also works to make his knowledge their own. Rosenfels' vision was an intense and personal one and one which needs to be contemplated and valued within each person who studies it. The Center offers a wide range of his books for sale, all at a very reasonable price and also makes them available without cost online.

Homosexuality: The Psychology of the Creative Process is probably the best book to start with when starting to consider the work of Paul Rosenfels. I also feel it is of exceptional value to anyone which wishes to come to terms with his or her homosexuality. It would make a great coming out present ! Another book I particularly liked was We Knew Paul: Conversations with Friends and Students of Paul Rosenfels; edited by Dean Hannotte, it gives a very personal side to the life as well as the work. It is an intensely private book helping us share the man as well as his vision.

-- reprinted from The Independent Review,
Volume V No 2,
P.O. Box 492
Armidale NSW 2350
AUSTRALIA