Page 28 - 201205 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - May 2012

Healing the Psyche Healing the Psyche Since Freud devised his revolutionary theories, many of those influenced by him have considered neurosis to be rooted in the experiences of early childhood. To release these experiences, modern psycho therapies advocate extremes of emotional expression. “The future will probably attribute far greater importance to psychoanalysis as the science of the unconscious than as a therapeutic AB@465EB6 OK)@ GB@D6 ):8>E?5 B6E5 D96 founder of psychoanalysis, in 1926. He was remarkably prescient. Even during his lifetime, the technique he had pioneered to identify and treat neurosis was being widely questioned, and even actively challenged by other forms of psychotherapy. But what has rarely been disputed if the significance of Freud’s exploration of the unconscious. His own dreams in depth, and in 1900 he published The Ego and the Id (1923) he suggested that the revolutionary theories about the human psyche his first major psychoanalytic work, The psyche consists of three separate but interacting rank with the theories of Darwin and Einstein in Interpretation of Dreams. Freud believed that forces. The most primitive is the id, the source terms of impact on modern Western thought - repressed desires were revealed more often of instinctual energy the expression of which is and Freud’s work has created the foundation for during sleep because the conscious mind was experienced as pleasure. Mediating between the the growth and development of various not able to censor them. Because so many id and the outside world is the ego, which takes psychotherapies, orthodox and alternative, ever repressed desires are sexual, Freud believed that account of reality, of the past and the future, and since. many dream images symbolize sexual organs - is prepared to sacrifice immediate gratification for example, a snake or stick might represent a for long-term reward. The superego, in turn is Hysteria and hypnosis penis, and a box or cupboard the vagina. concerned with morality and passes judgment Born in Moravia in 1856, Freud moved with his In The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud on the aims of the id and ego. family to Vienna when he was three years old set out a major rendering of his theory of the During the first decades of the 20th and remained there until 1938, the year before unconscious mind. The unconscious was not a century, Freud helped develop a school of his death. He trained as a doctor and in 1886 concept that Freud invented, yet he was the first psychoanalysis in Vienna. But conflicts arose, began practicing as a neurologist. Many of to explore it in depth and t argue for the and some colleagues, notably Carl Gustav Jung Freud’s patients suffered from hysteria (a awesome reality of its influence in our daily and Alfred Alder, left to pursue their own mental disorder characterized by emotional lives. In Psychopathology of Everyday Life theories. outbursts), and he treated them using hypnosis, (1901) he suggested that the unconscious was a method pioneered by Jean-Martin Charcot. responsible for those verbal errors that have Alternative treatments Under hypnosis the patient would often become known as Freudian slips. Freudian psychoanalysis also came in for recall traumatic episode from childhood, and considerable criticism. Treatment was regarded this painful process seemed to help effect a cure. Infantile sexuality as too long and expensive; emphasis on past In addition, Freud noticed that many of these Four years later Freud produced another major trauma was seen as unhealthy. The “shrink” (as traumas related to sexual experiences. In 1895 G@B< KThree Essays on Sexuality. In this Freud the psychoanalyst came to be known) became Freud and Josef Breuer, a colleague, published suggested that libido (generalized desire for the butt of numerous jokes. As a result, many Studies of Hysteria. gratification, largely sexual) first appears during analysts set out to discover shorter, and often In this they argued that the original infancy. According to Freud, it begins with an less verbal, methods of psychotherapy. trauma produced an emotional energy that was oral exchange; the infants first satisfaction is Underlying all the new methods, however, was repressed by the conscious mind. Thus blocked, sucking. Then comes the anal stage; retaining a fundamental acceptance of Freud’s emphasis it found expression in neurosis. Recall of the and eliminating feces. Then, at the age of about on the importance of the unconscious and of the trauma during hypnosis acted as a release, they four or five, comes the phallic stage: enjoyment repressed desires and fears. This is eloquent theorized, and thus the pent up energy was of and genital stimulation. testimony to the power of Freud’s ideas and the discharged and the symptoms disappeared. Freud believed that excessive impact they have had on modern life. [] gratification of these instincts had important The birth of psychoanalysis effects on adult behavior. He also put forward The limiting factor with hypnosis was that it the idea of an Oedipus complex. During the would not work with every patient. Fortunately, phallic stage, the concept suggests, a boy Freud and Breuer discovered a new technique unconsciously desires his mother, sees his father that was just as successful. This became known as his rival, feels hostile towards him, and feels as free association. The patient relaxed on a so guilty about his sexual feelings and fears couch and was encouraged to talk freely about castration. The individual’s later capacity for anything that came into his or her head, mature, healthy, adult relationships, Freud however absurd. Gradually, over many sessions theorized, depended on how well he resolved of exploring these random associations, the this early conflict. analyst hoped to find in the patient’s unconscious the keys to the neurosis. Thus Ego and id psychoanalysis was born. Later in his career Freud turned toward From 1895 to 1899 Freud analyzed his describing the development of the psyche. In