Richard Reichbart, JD, PhD, is a training and supervising psychoanalyst. For thirty five years, he has maintained a private practice for the treatment of adults, adolescents and children in Northern New Jersey. In addition, he is a short story writer, a parapsychologist, and a poet. He is author of The Paranormal Surrounds Us: Psychic Phenomena in Literature, Culture, and Psychoanalysis. Prior to his career in psychology, he worked as an attorney focusing on civil rights and native American issues.

Here he discusses the play, Magic, written by G. K. Chesterton that formed the basis for Ingmar Bergman’s 1958 film, The Magician. Both of these productions featured individuals with psychic powers who were mercilessly hounded by hostile representatives of society. He points out that these fictional scenarios closely match the actual treatment received by Ted Serios, who produced “thoughtographs” and was studied by the psychoanalyst, Jule Eisenbud.

(Recorded on December 12, 2020)

Ingmar Bergman, The Magician (video) – https://amzn.to/2KlWAZz

Ingmar Bergman, Wild Strawberries (video) – https://amzn.to/38cqTKg

Ingmar Bergman, The Seventh Seal (video) – https://amzn.to/3h4VY6z

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Published on December 28, 2020