The Question of Lay Analysis

The Question of Lay Analysis (German: Die Frage der Laienanalyse) is a 1926 book by Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, advocating the right of non-doctors, or 'lay' people, to be psychoanalysts. It was written in response to Theodore Reik's being prosecuted for being a non-medical, or lay, analyst in Austria.

The Question of Lay Analysis

The German edition
Author	Sigmund Freud
Original title	Die Frage der Laienanalyse
Language	German

It is in this book that Freud compares the sexual life of adult women to a "dark continent":

We know less about the sexual life of little girls than of boys. But we need not feel ashamed of this distinction; after all, the sexual life of adult females is a dark continent [original in English]^[1][2] for psychology.^[3]

References

1. Freud, Sigmund (2002). Wild Analysis. Translated by Alan Bance with an Introduction by Adam Phillips. City of Westminster, London: Penguin UK. ISBN 0-14193754-8. Quote. {{cite book}}: External link in |quote= (help)
2. (in German) See occurrences on Google Books.
3. Kristeva, Julia (2005). "Dark Continent (p. 365)". In de Mijolla, Alain (ed.). International Dictionary of Psychoanalysis. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Thompson Gale's Macmillan Reference USA division. ISBN 0-02865927-9.