Psychoanalysts have gotten a bad rap when it comes to their image of providing expensive services to a relatively well-to-do segment of the population. But in reality, right from its earliest days under Sigmund Freud, pro bono and low-fee services were offered to a broad segment of the public.

So says Dr. Stephanie Bot, herself a psychoanalyst, as well as president of BizLife Solutions and supervising psychologist at Dr. Stephanie Bot & Associates. Bot is also the chair of the fundraising committee for a gala event being presented by the Toronto Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis (TICP), which will be held April 26.

The gala will feature a performance of Freud’s Last Session by the Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company at the Greenwin Theatre at the Toronto Centre for the Arts.

The play imagines Freud, considered the father of psychoanalysis, and novelist C.S. Lewis meeting in Freud’s English home on the brink of World War II. The two thinkers discuss love, sex, the existence of God and the meaning of life.

Freud is often associated with his treatment of the bourgeoisie and of European heads of state, Bot said, but less well known is that he was an early advocate for free or low-cost treatment for the wider public who could benefit from psychoanalysis, but couldn’t afford it.

That approach fits nicely into the mission of the TICP, which is raising money for a clinic, likely in midtown, in which members of the community will be offered psychoanalytical services for free or at greatly reduced costs, as foreseen by Freud, Bot said.

Though he came from an Orthodox family, Freud was not observant, though he did adopt the Jewish value of tzedakah, or charitable giving. Prior to World War II, he was behind several clinics in Vienna and Russia that provided low-cost psychoanalytic treatment to members of the public, she said.

That practice – of giving back to the community – is particularly needed now, as we are experiencing a mental health crisis that has not left Jews untouched, Bot said. Jews suffer disproportionate occurrences of bipolar disorder compared to the general population, as well as post-traumatic stress associated with Holocaust survivors, their children and grandchildren.

Modern research has shown that particularly stressful events can alter DNA and lead to “trans-generational transmission of trauma,” she said.

Besides being potential patients, Jews are also well represented at the other end of the therapist’s couch. A good number are active as TICP board members and as participants in the organization’s activities. TICP provides a four-year program in psychoanalysis, continuing education in psychoanalysis and “training to do more intensive types of psychotherapy,” Bot said.

The organization was granted charitable status last year and with the proposed midtown community clinic, newly trained psychotherapists will have a place to hone their skills while providing a needed service to members of the public, thus honouring Freud and preserving his legacy, Bot added