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The Psychology of Sigmund Freud Essay

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Sigmund Freud is one of the most controversial psychologists in history to this day, yet his theories and ideas are widely known. Freud made a crucial contribution to the study of understanding hidden human motivation (Lippman, 1996). “Hardly any discipline of thought has remained unaffected by the Freudian revolution but the impact has also been uncertain” (Pollack, 1984). Freud was also known as too important to ignore, but too impossible to digest (Pollack, 1984). Freud’s theories are criticized because his theories are very far fetched and his ideas potentially make many people feel uncomfortable, but that could be exactly the point that Sigmund was trying to convey (Liff, 1998). It was said “He was a disturber of the status quo and …show more content…

Psychoanalysis was viewed as a form of social therapy (Pollack, 1984). Because of the lack of empirical evidence towards psychoanalysis, many believed Freud was driven by the idea of becoming famous (Moore, 1994). Critics stated he “interpreted evidence retrospectively to suit his theories and dismissed criticism with rhetorical flourishes” (Moore, 1994). He was known to get his patients to sacrifice themselves for his new ideas about psychoanalysis and cared little about their life afterwards or if the treatment was in fact effective (Moore, 1994). One man who was a patient of Freud’s stated “I am in the same state as when I first came to Freud, and Freud is no more” (Moore, 1994).

To contrast the criticisms of psychoanalysis as a whole, therapy has been widely used for many years as a way to alleviate stress in people who have had a negative past. Freud stated that psychoanalysis didn’t work on everyone, and that it didn’t alleviate all the pain inside a person (Webster, 2010). Freud said “The aim is modest: it is to turn neurotic misery into common unhappiness” (Webster, 2010). Freud’s theories were based on careful and consistent observations of his clients and on himself (Liff, 1998). Psychoanalysis, although it has been altered to benefit patients more, is still used today. Therapy is a widely used technique to help people better their lives and release their fears

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