Pierre Janet and His Psychology of Action offers a historical, theoretical, and clinical reconstruction of Pierre Janet’s psychology of conduct, understood as a science of action.

The book presents Janet’s work as a sustained attempt to ground psychology in the observation and analysis of action, with direct relevance for clinical practice. It follows the development of his thought across biographical, institutional, and scientific contexts, showing how his concepts emerged from the interplay between clinical observation, theoretical formulation, teaching, and therapeutic intervention. Particular attention is given to Janet’s dynamic model of psychological force and tension, his hierarchical organization of conduct, and his analyses of hysteria, psychasthenia, trauma, dissociation, and psychotherapy. The volume presents Janet’s psychology on its own terms, emphasizing the coherence of his conceptual vocabulary and the continuing relevance of his work for contemporary debates on trauma, dissociation, and psychological healing and treatment.

The book is intended for scholars, clinicians, psychotherapists, and advanced students interested in trauma, dissociation, psychopathology, psychotherapy, and the history of psychology. It will be especially relevant to readers seeking both a historically grounded reconstruction of Janet’s work and a clinically useful framework for understanding disorganized action, traumatic memory, and psychological treatment.

Francesca Ortu, PhD, psychologist, is a former Professor of Dynamic Psychology and History of Psychology at Sapienza University of Rome. Her research focuses on psychotherapy outcomes, attachment, the history of psychoanalysis, and Pierre Janet’s psychology. She has edited and translated into Italian several of Janet’s works.

Onno van der Hart, PhD, is a psychologist/psychotraumatologist in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. A psychotherapist until 2017, he is a former professor of chronic traumatization psychopathology. He is the first author of The Haunted Self: Structural Dissociation and the Treatment of Chronic Traumatization, which received the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD) Pierre Janet Writing Award.