The ego is objective, and basically deals with the reality of the environment and acts as a control center of the personality (Rana). Freud believed that an individual's experiences in the early years of childhood determined his adulthood, what kind of person he or she will become (Rana). The stages of childhood include: 1st year is the oral stage; 2nd year is the anal stage; 3rd-5th year is the phallic stage; 6th-12th is a period of latency; and after puberty is the genital stage (Rana). He also believed that the personality uses defense mechanisms to protect the individual from anxiety, when information is pushed down into the unconscious it is referred to as repression (Rana). When an individual assigns his own faults or shortcomings to another person, it is referred to as projection (Rana). Other aspects include rationalization, denial, identification, regression, and fixation (Rana).

Psychoanalysis has become a common therapy in treatment...

Hypnosis is often used to help an individual unlock unpleasant memories that hinder their progress in life. Aspects of Freud's work can be found in everyday life, particularly the media. Advertisers and public relations departments have become experts, using images and sounds that attack the unconscious and manipulate the public into desiring particular products and people. Freud, more than any other psychiatrist, has changed the way people view themselves and others, as well as the world around them.
Works Cited

Boeree, George C. Dr. "Sigmund Freud: 1856-1939." 2006. Retrieved December 07, 2006 at http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/freud.html

Gay, Peter. Freud: A Life for Our Time. W.W. Norton & Company. 1988. Pp. 4.

Rana, Himmat. Muskingum College. May 1997. Retrieved December 07, 2006 at http://muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/freud.htm