Becoming a Spielreinian: Incorporating Sabina Spielrein’s Contributions Into Contemporary Clinical Practice

Abstract: This article examines how Sabina Spielrein’s psychoanalytic theories could be incorporated into contemporary clinical practice, proposing the possibility of a “Spielreinian” therapeutic approach by identifying key elements of Spielrein’s work, including her preference for non-binary thinking, emphasis on clinical data over theory, centering of female experience, and holistic view of mind-body connection. While acknowledging the limitations of Spielrein’s work due to historical circumstances, the article argues that her core theoretical contributions—particularly regarding destruction and becoming, maternal-sexual connections, and embodied experience—offer valuable insights for modern psychoanalytic practice. I argue that Spielrein’s sensibilities form a coherent psychoanalytic ethics that privileges embodied experience over normative categories.