The Life and Contributions of Sigmund Freud to Psychology

In 1885 he went to study under Charcot and later became acquainted with the work of Liebeault and Bernheim at Nancy. He was impressed by their use of hypothesis with patient experiencing hysteria and came away convinced that powerful mental processes could remain hidden from consciousness. The patients usually displayed considerable emotion and. On awakening from their hypnotic states, felt a significant emotional release, which was called a catharsis. It was this approach that led to the discovery of the unconscious the portion of the mind that contains experiences of which a person is unaware and with it the belief that processes outside of a person's awareness can play an important role in determining behavior.

One method, free association, involved having patients talk freely about themselves. Thereby providing information about their feelings, motives, and so forth. A second method, dream analysis, Involved having patients record and describe their dreams. These techniques helped analysts and patients gain insights and achieve a better understanding of the patients' emotional problems. Freud devoted the rest of his long and energetic life to the development and elaboration of psychoanalytic principles. His views were formally introduced to American scientists in 1909, when he was invited to deliver a series of lectures at Clark University by the eminent psychologist G Stanley Hall, who was then president of the university. These lectures created a great deal of controversy and helped popularize psychoanalytic concepts with scientists as well as with the general public.

Even today the writings and scientific findings of Sigmund Freud still stand as some of the most quoted, referenced, and celebrated research on the subjects of abnormal psychology, behavior, psychiatry, and therapy. Freud, who is the father of psychoanalysis, formulated his unique approach and theory as a means of truly understanding abnormal behaviors and exploring how best to treat them. The field of psychopathology would never be the same after the invention of psychoanalysis. Freud championed his new theory of the mind made up of three central components. The id, the ego, and the superego. His theory further drawing the conclusions that the unconscious mind rather actively influenced human behavior.

Freud's theory of psychoanalysis offers great insight. Into the inner workings of the human mind and seeks to cast an intense light on a person's behaviors and thoughts. Deriving from his viewpoint on the causes of abnormal behaviors. The Freudian definition of analytical psychology gives us the theory of the psychodynamic perspective. Accordingly, abnormal behaviors are explained. As being the results of conflicting forces within one's personality. It is purported that abnormal behaviors are not in any way biological then because they in fact lie outside the spectrum of the individual's conscious awareness.

Cite this page