Psy-function in Soviet Style: Substitutes for Psychoanalysis in the USSR

The article considers the possibility of applying Michel Foucault's concept of «psy-function» to analyse late Soviet psychotherapeutic theories and practices. Within the framework of a critical approach, the author explores the emergence of alternatives to psychoanalysis against the background of its official prohibition in the USSR, turning to the concept of «psi-functions», which is traditionally used to describe the disciplinary role of psychological practices in Western societies and their relationship to the «discourse of truth». It is argued that other theories such as Uznadze's «theory of attitude» and Myasishchev's «pathogenetic psychotherapy» were developed in the USSR: these approaches, based on physiological and socio-psychological interpretations of the psyche, did not recognise psychoanalysis, but in some aspects offered similar mechanisms for explaining human subjectivity. This study is unique in its application of the concept of psy-function to the Soviet context. The author analyses three key Soviet theories — the school of attitudes, causal analysis and pathogenetic psychotherapy — showing how they expressed ideas about the unconscious and the desire to reduce the subject's problems to the family disposition. The article thus highlights the paradoxical role of psychoanalysis in the USSR: officially rejected, it nevertheless remained relevant through theories outwardly unrelated to Freudianism. The author proposes a reconsideration of the perception of the post-Soviet psychological space and argues that thanks to late Soviet psy-theories, society and experts were ready to accept the practices of Western psychological expertise, as predicted by British sociologist Nicholas Rose in the early 1990s. This article was prepared with the support of the SMARTS-UP scholarship programme.