Books / Psychodynamic & attachment
The Trauma of Birth
Otto Rank’s 1924 book presents a psychoanalytic theory linking anxiety to the experience of birth and separation.
Book details
Author of listed edition: Otto Rank
Edition: First German edition (1924); English translation published in 1929
Publisher: Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag
Edition year: 1924
Original title: Das Trauma der Geburt und seine Bedeutung für die Psychoanalyse
Language and origin: German (Austria)
Form and genre: Clinical & Theoretical Monograph
Level: Advanced
Historical era: 1920–1939 · Ego Psychology & Early Child Analysis
Covers: Rank’s theory of anxiety and birth; Separation and psychoanalytic theory
APA 7th reference: Rank, O. (1924). Das Trauma der Geburt und seine Bedeutung für die Psychoanalyse [The trauma of birth and its importance for psychoanalysis]. Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag.
What it is
Das Trauma der Geburt was published in German in 1924. A 1929 English edition appeared as The Trauma of Birth. This entry identifies the German publication and the later translation separately.
What it covers
Rank proposed a psychoanalytic account linking anxiety to the experience of birth and separation. It is a historical theory, not an established explanation of anxiety for every person.
Historical context
Rank’s theory differed from Freud’s account and was part of a wider disagreement between them. A biographical overview describes Rank’s later influence on psychotherapy in the United States.
Reading this record
Library catalogue records and a biographical overview were consulted. The full book was not reviewed. The claim that birth experience is the source of all anxiety should not be treated as an established clinical fact.
Paired academic and clinical scholarship
Paired work: Acts of Will: The Life and Work of Otto Rank (E. James Lieberman, 1985)
Reference: Lieberman, E. J. (1985). Acts of will: The life and work of Otto Rank. Free Press.
A biography of Rank and his work. The full biography was not reviewed for this entry.
Source-mapped claims and evidence notes
Claim 1: The German work was published in 1924 by Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag. (The US National Library of Medicine catalogue identifies the German edition; the full book was not reviewed.) [Source 1: US National Library of Medicine. Das Trauma der Geburt; und seine Bedeutung für die Psychoanalyse.]
Claim 2: An English translation appeared in 1929. (Wellcome Collection lists the London and New York publishers.) [Source 2: Wellcome Collection. The trauma of birth / by Otto Rank.]
Sources and inspection notes
US National Library of Medicine. Das Trauma der Geburt; und seine Bedeutung für die Psychoanalyse.
Supports: Catalogue identifies Rank, the German title, the publisher and 1924 publication.
Wellcome Collection. The trauma of birth / by Otto Rank.
Supports: Catalogue records the 1929 English edition and its London and New York publishers.
Encyclopaedia Britannica. Otto Rank: Austrian psychoanalyst.
Supports: Biographical overview of Rank’s theory, disagreement with Freud and later work.
Open British National Bibliography. The trauma of birth: Dover edition.
Supports: Catalogue associates ISBN 048627974X with a 1993 Dover English edition, not the 1924 German original.