In this regard, Demorest concludes that, "Together these and other theorists have provided accounts of what it means to be a person that all fit within the psychodynamic paradigm, a perspective that holds a vision of people as at their core driven by dynamic forces in their unconscious minds" (2005, p. 3).
Freud's influence on psychoanalytic thought, though, required some time to take hold and many of his methods were rejected outright by the contemporary medical establishment, particularly in the United States. For example, following Freud's only trip to North America in 1909, one psychiatrist believed that, "Many patients were psychotically disturbed and deemed to be beyond the reach of Freud's intellectual 'talk therapy'" (Beam, 2001, p. 94). Not only did others think that Freud's methods were not appropriate for some patients, Freud himself acknowledged their limitations. In fact, Beam points out as well that, "Freud himself thought most schizophrenics dwelled well beyond the reach of psychoanalysis" (2001, p. 124). Interestingly, Beam also cites correspondence from Freud that shows he was "annoyed" by schizophrenic patients, an attribute Freud acknowledges was inconsistent with his role as a psychiatrist (Beam, 2001).
Following a lengthy career that was marked by controversy and innovation, Freud barely escaped from Germany to England (with the Nazis hard on his heels, too -- they even burned his books) in 1938 where he died a year later at the age of 83 years (Demorest, 2005). In the 70 or so years since, Freud has certainly not been forgotten and his legacy is vast. According to Demorest, "His impact on contemporary thought is enormous, as his ideas have spread from the field of psychology to the arts and humanities and the lay culture" (2005, p. 66). This lasting impact is due in large part to the holistic approach that Freud introduced that took a number of factors into...
The personal and scientific environments within which Freud grew up therefore represent his primary influences. A further influence came in the form of physics. The second half of the nineteenth century, during which Freud did most of his important work, saw great advances in physics. According to Thornton, the discovery mostly responsible for this was Helmholz's principle of conservation energy. Helmholz held that the total amount of energy in a
And moreover, the virtues that had been "automatically" accorded to Freud over the years -- "clinical acumen, wisdom in human affairs, dedication to his patients and to the truth" -- are now obscured by the skepticism that has come due to the deep questioning and investigation over time (Kramer, 1998, pp. 199-200). That skepticism among scholars has also been brought on by a lack of "accord" between what Freud
Freud's invention, 'psychoanalysis', wherein the patient would be encouraged by the doctor to talk freely about his varied memories and dreams and associations and thoughts, which became an important part of the psychiatric treatment of patients suffering from mental illnesses, in later years, was, when first introduced in the Vienna of the end of the century, openly ridiculed. When Freud's 'Interpretation of Dreams' was released, there was a commotion as
116). By defining these elements, he constructs a safe model that only applies to his people. Still it was this premise of the potential illness found in the Jewish male that shaped "the discourse of psychoanalysis concerning gender and identity. The next step in his revolutionary study came with defining his style of psychology. He believed in determination as a construct. This was defined; as one's action is causally determined
Response 2: Freud Freud's statement that the only human purpose is to reproduce does not mean that life is meaningless, but that humans are driven, much like animals, not by higher spiritual motivations as theorized in Judaism and Christianity. Even the idea of God comes from the primal, id-driven need for security in a cruel world, the type of security one desires from one's idealized parents. This not only deflates the
Some, such as Carl Jung, reconceived the nature of the unconscious, while others, such as Melanie Klein, replaced drives or instincts with interpersonal ("object") relations as the pivot of the psyche. Others, such as Alfred Adler, placed relatively greater emphasis than Freud did on the ego, while lessening the emphasis on the sexual drives. In Freud's wake, many varieties of talking therapy were created, some ultimately with little connection to
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now