Existential encounter in the asylum: Ludwig Binswanger's 1935 case of hysteria.

The article examines Swiss psychiatrist Ludwig Binswanger's view of the doctor-patient relationship as a direct and trusting existential encounter in a 1935 clinical case of hysteria. In the 1935 article derived from his lecture, Binswanger highlighted the importance of an existential relationship between patient and doctor in a case of hysteria. Unlike psychoanalytic transference, an existential relationship was built on trust, and did not merely repeat the dynamics of a patient's previous relationships but was a novel encounter in its own right. An existential relationship also guaranteed the efficacy of a range of therapies including somatic intervention, psychoanalytic treatment, moral influence and the restrictive guidelines of an authoritative figure, according to Binswanger.