Personality Theory
Sigmund Freud is unquestionably the most famous person in the fields of psychiatry and
psychology, and one of the most famous individuals in modern history. He is of particular
importance for this subject because he was probably the first person to address psychological
problems by examining the individual’s personal development in detail. As he developed his
psychodynamic theory, and the treatment known as psychoanalysis, he attempted to carefully
observe and listen to his patients in order to determine not only how and why they had become the
person they were, but also whether those developmental processes might be common to all
people. This careful approach to studying psychological conditions was likely the result of Freud’s
substantial scientific research in anatomy and physiology earlier in his career.
But why is Freud so famous? Much of his theory may not seem relevant today, and it’s hard
to imagine how anyone could ever have come up with the theory of penis envy. And yet Freud
remains extraordinarily influential. There are at least three good reasons for Freud’s enduring
influence and popularity. First, Freud was first! No one before him had established a cohesive
theory of the development of personality, especially a theory that attempted to explain both normal
and abnormal development. Thus, most theories developed since then have been viewed as
extending, modifying, or opposing Freud’s psychodynamic theory. Second, key elements of Freud’s
theory are generally accepted in psychology and psychiatry, such as the existence of unconscious
elements of our mind that can affect our thoughts and behaviors and both the normal and abnormal
roles of psychological defense mechanisms. The final factor contributing to Freud’s lasting influence
is somewhat more complicated. Psychodynamic theory was not well received at first. In fact, the
emphasis on childhood sexuality was ridiculed and scorned by many in the medical
profession. However, Freud was determined, and he did not let the rejection of others deter him
from continuing his studies. In addition, there were several very famous and influential individuals
who supported his efforts. Thus, Freud found the motivation to persevere, and the rest, as they say,
is history.
A Brief Biography of Sigmund Freud, M. D.
Sigismund Schlomo Freud was born on May 6th, 1856, in the small, industrial town of
Freiberg in Moravia (today it is known as Pribor in the Czech Republic). Freud never used the name
Schlomo, his paternal grandfather’s name, and he shortened his first name while at the University of
Vienna. His family life was unusual, and somewhat complicated. His father, Jakob Freud, was 40
years old when he married Freud’s mother, Amalia Nathanson. She was 20 years younger than
Jakob Freud, and several years younger than Jakob’s son, Emanuel, from an earlier marriage. One
of Freud’s first friends was a nephew who was a year older than Freud!
Jakob Freud was never particularly successful in business. The industrial importance of
Freiberg was declining, so the young family left and eventually settled in Vienna, Austria (Jakob’s
sons from his first marriage, Emanuel and Philipp, emigrated to England). At this point Jakob and
Amalia Freud had two children, Sigmund and his sister Anna (a brother born between them, Julius,
died at 7 or 8 months of age). Shortly after arriving in Vienna, however, they had five more children
during the years 1860-1866: Rosa, Marie, Adolfine, Pauline, and Alexander. This resulted in
continued financial difficulties, which appears to have been painful for the young Freud (Gay,
1998). There were also personal difficulties that made it difficult for Freud to enjoy a close
relationship with his father. Jakob Freud once told his son a story about being abused by an
Austrian Christian, a man who knocked Jakob Freud’s hat into the muddy street and then ordered
the “Jew” to get off the sidewalk. When Freud asked his father how he had responded, his father
said he simply stepped off the sidewalk and picked up his hat. Freud was very disappointed by what
he apparently perceived as weakness in his father (Gay, 1998). There was also an embarrassing
episode involving his father’s brother, Josef. Josef Freud was convicted and sent to jail for trading in
counterfeit money. This caused a great deal of concern for Jakob Freud, who might have been
involved in the illegal scheme along with his sons, Emanuel and Philipp (Gay, 1998; Jones, 1953).
Still, Jakob Freud did try to be a good father. His children were generally successful, and he
remained active and supportive in the lives of his children and grandchildren. The story mentioned
above, when Jakob Freud tried to impart some “fatherly” wisdom to his son, may not have had the
intended effect, but it demonstrates that he cared about teaching his son some of life’s lessons. On
Freud’s thirty-fifth birthday his father sent his “dear son” a copy of the family’s Philippson Bible (this
Bible contains the Old Testament, which is the only testament in the Jewish faith), which Freud had
often studied as a young child (Gay, 1998; Jones, 1953; Nicholi, 2002). The inscription written by
Jakob Freud in the Bible ended with a description of the gift “as a token of love from your old father”
(see Jones, 1953; Nicholi, 2002). When Jakob Freud died, Freud wrote to a friend that his father’s
death had profoundly affected him, leaving him feeling uprooted. He described the death of one’s
father as “the most important event, the most poignant loss, in a man’s life” (see Nicholi, 2002). The
death of his father appears to have stimulated Freud’s self-analysis, the writing of The Interpretation
of Dreams (Freud, 1900/1995) and the formulation of his theory of the Oedipus complex (Nicholi,
2002). Jakob Freud was also remembered quite fondly by his grandson Martin, the eldest son of
Freud (M. Freud, 1983).
Freud’s relationship with his mother was also complex. Amalia Freud is described as young
(which she was, compared to Jakob), attractive, and energetic. She always took great pride in her
son, and was a strong and positive influence throughout his life. Later in life he wrote that “A man
who has been the indisputable favorite of his mother keeps for life the feeling of a conqueror, that
confidence of success that often induces real success” (see Jones, 1953). During Freud’s selfanalysis, around the year 1897, he uncovered profound memories from his earliest
years. Sometime between the ages of 2 ½ and 4 years old, Freud accidentally saw his mother
naked. This event awakened a powerful desire in Freud. Shortly after recovering this memory, he
remembered the deep jealousy he had felt when his brother Julius was born, shortly before Freud
was 2 years old. So jealous was Freud, that he remembered welcoming the death of his infant
brother (see Gay, 1998; Jones, 1953). Each of these incidents certainly had an impact of Freud’s
theory of the Oedipus complex. Surprisingly, however, during the first 2 ½ years of Freud’s life he
actually spent very little time with his mother, since he was being raised by a nursemaid. Keep in
mind that his mother became pregnant again, then his brother Julius became ill and died, and then
his mother became pregnant again, finally giving birth to his sister Anna, all by the time Freud was 2
½ years old.
Freud’s nursemaid has been described as an old and ugly woman, but Freud loved her and
dreamed about her later in life (see Gay, 1998; Jones, 1953; Nicholi, 2002). The nursemaid was a
devout Roman Catholic, and she regularly took Freud to church with her. Despite his young age
(less than 2 ½ years old), Freud would come home from church and preach to his family about
God. Even though his family was Jewish, they did not practice their faith with much devotion, and it
must have been quite interesting to listen to the sermons of their little boy. Why then, as we will see,
did Freud come to reject religion and spirituality? It turns out that this relationship ended
abruptly. Freud’s half brother Philipp accused the nursemaid of petty theft, and she was sent to
prison. At this time Freud’s mother was confined with his recently born sister, so Freud was
suddenly denied access to both his mother and his nursemaid. It has been suggested that because
he was abandoned so suddenly, and at such a critical time (Freud was 2 ½ years old at this time), by
his Roman Catholic nursemaid, that his anger and disappointment led to his ultimate rejection of the
spiritual worldview and his antagonism toward the Catholic church (Gay, 1998; Jones, 1953; Nicholi,
2002).
Freud's Early Career in Basic Research (Pre-Psychiatry)
Freud was very successful in school from an early age. At the Gymnasium, which is the term
for a preparatory school in countries such as Germany and Austria, he was first in his class for 7
years. This led to a variety of special privileges, including seldom being required to take any
examinations (Freud, 1952). It also led to privileges at home. According to his sister Anna, Freud
always had his own room to study in, no matter how difficult the family’s financial situation (Gay,
1998). As he prepared for college, Freud initially wanted to study law. However, after learning
about Darwin’s theory of evolution and hearing Goethe’s essay on nature, he decided to become a
medical student (Freud, 1952).
In 1873, Freud entered the University of Vienna. Initially he suffered greatly from prejudice
and discrimination against him because he was Jewish. Believing that he was expected to feel
inferior and alien because he was Jewish, he nonetheless persevered. As a result of these
experiences, later in life he was prepared for dealing with the considerable resistance that occurred
in response to his theories (Freud, 1952). His first research project in medical school came at the
suggestion of Professor Carl Claus. Prof. Claus was interested in a report that the Polish scientist
Simone de Syrski had identified structures that might represent the testes of the male eel. This was
a question that had been studied for centuries without success. After dissecting some 400 eels,
Freud appeared to have confirmed Syrski’s findings. The research was not definitive, however, and
Freud found little satisfaction in the publication of his work (Gay, 1998; Jones, 1953). He was,
however, about to find satisfaction, in the physiological laboratory of Ernst Brücke.
Brücke was a renowned physiologist, anatomist, histologist, and more. Freud had great
respect for his newfound mentor, referring to him as Master Brücke and describing him as “the
greatest authority I ever met.” In Brücke’s laboratory Freud “found rest and full satisfaction at last”
(Gay, 1998; Jones, 1953). The research he conducted under Brücke’s guidance was
impressive. Brücke put Freud to work studying the anatomy of the spinal cord and its neurons. At
that time, the structure of neurons was not understood. Freud modified the histological staining
methods being used in Brücke’s laboratory, and eventually developed a gold chloride method of
staining nervous system tissue around the year 1880 (Jones, 1953). This was one of the first uses
of a heavy metal stain on nervous system tissue. The silver nitrate method of staining neurons had
been developed by Camillo Golgi a few years earlier, in 1873, but it was not until 1888 that Santiago
Ramon y Cajal first reported on the structure of the brain using Golgi’s technique. For this research,
Golgi and Ramon y Cajal shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1906 (Finger, 1994). If Freud had
not left basic research for a career in medicine, he might have ended up famous just the same.
Freud did eventually leave the university, however, and began a career in medicine at the
General Hospital in Vienna. Part of the reason for leaving and beginning his medical career was that
he had met Martha Bernays, the woman who would become his wife, and he needed to begin
earning enough money to support a wife and family. First, however, he needed to establish himself
in his career. At the General Hospital he met and worked with the eminent Theodor Meynert, who,
among other accomplishments, was the first to correctly suggest that Parkinson’s disease resulted
from abnormal functioning of the basal ganglia (Finger, 1994). This stimulated Freud’s continued
interest in anatomy and brain function, and in 1891 Freud published a book entitled On
Aphasia. You may remember from introductory psychology that the two primary speech centers in
the human brain are Broca’s area (speech production) and Wernicke’s area (speech reception), and
that damage to these areas results in Broca’s aphasia or Wernicke’s aphasia. Carl Wernicke had
also been a student of Meynert, but Freud’s book on aphasia was especially critical of Wernicke
(Finger, 1994). This put both men firmly in the middle of the debate on structuralism vs.
functionalism as it pertains to the activities of the human brain (see Finger, 1994). Although Meynert
suggested that Freud should devote himself to studying the anatomy of the brain, Freud had had
enough of this sort of work in Brücke’s laboratory. Instead, Freud’s interest turned toward the
diseases of the brain (Freud, 1952). With the help of a recommendation by Brücke, Freud was
awarded a Traveling Fellowship, which allowed him to afford a trip to Paris to study at the prestigious
Salpetriere. He intended to study under Jean-Martin Charcot, one of the world’s foremost
neurologists of his day, and the man who named Parkinson’s disease after the physician James
Parkinson (Finger, 1994).
Freud was largely ignored when he arrived at the Salpetriere, since he was just one of a
crowd of foreign visitors. As luck would have it, one day he heard Charcot expressing regret that
Charcot had not heard from his German translator in some time, and he wished someone could be
found to translate his latest lectures into German. Freud wrote to Charcot, offered to do the job, and
was accepted. From that point on he became a member of Charcot’s inner circle, and was active in
all aspects of the work at the clinic (Freud, 1952). One of the main topics Freud studied with
Charcot was the use of hypnosis in the study of hysteria. Freud discussed the earliest conceptions
of his psychodynamic theory with Charcot. Charcot was supportive and agreed with Freud’s
fledgling ideas, but Charcot’s interests remained firmly in the field of neurology, not in psychology or
psychiatry (Freud, 1952).
Upon returning to Vienna and settling down as a practicing physician, Freud was finally able
to marry Martha in 1886 (he was 30 years old, and she was 25). They had six children: Matilde,
Martin, Oliver, Ernst, Sophie, and Anna. According to his son Martin, Freud was a loving and
generous father (M. Freud, 1983). He was also very supportive of his children. As Martin became
disillusioned with the study of law, he turned to his father for advice:
…It had always been his hope that one of his sons would become a lawyer. Thus he
watched, and I think guided, my first faltering steps in my law studies with the greatest concern.
He agreed that my first studies were dull and boring, but he assured me that one day I would
find a teacher with an impressive personality, perhaps a man of genius, and that I would become
deeply interested and carried away by his lectures…
Father always expressed himself with great clarity and, when advising me at so critical a time
in my life, he added to his normal clarity of expression a natural tenderness and concern… (M.
Freud, 1983; pg. 161)
Martin did become a lawyer and, after Martin served as an officer in the Austrian army during
World War I, his father helped him to establish his practice.
Finally, any discussion of Freud’s early research career would not be complete without
mentioning what Ernest Jones, Freud’s official biographer, called “the cocaine episode” (Jones,
1953). In his last autobiographical book (Freud, 1952; originally published in 1925 in a collection of
medical autobiographies) he makes only passing reference to studying cocaine, reporting another
near miss in his research career. He had begun studying cocaine while he was away from Vienna,
and an opportunity arose to return home for vacation and an opportunity to see his fiancé
Martha. As he prepared to leave, he suggested to a couple of colleagues that they examine the
effectiveness of cocaine as an anesthetic for use in eye diseases. While Freud was visiting Martha,
one of his colleagues, Carl Koller, confirmed the local anesthetic properties of cocaine and became
famous for it. Afterward, Freud noted that “it was the fault of my fiancé that I was not already famous
at that early age,” but he insists that “I bore my fiancé no grudge for her interruption of my work”
(Freud, 1952). Something quite fascinating is that Freud’s interest in cocaine was initially based on
the possibility that its euphoric properties might be used to alleviate the problems associated with
withdrawal from morphine. A close and long-time friend, Ernst von Fleischl-Marxow had become
addicted to morphine because of the extreme pain of an infection, and Freud hoped that cocaine
would help. Freud himself began using cocaine to boost his own mood. He sent some to Martha
with the recommendation that she try it (there is no evidence that she ever did), and he even began
sending cocaine to friends, colleagues, and his sisters. Eventually, however, Freud realized that
cocaine was not helping his friend; indeed von Fleischl-Marxow became addicted to cocaine instead
of morphine. Freud eventually deeply regretted his research on cocaine, especially since the one
positive result of that research had garnered fame for a colleague while Freud was on vacation (Gay,
1998; Jones, 1953).
Freud's Psychiatric Career
Many people believe that psychoanalysis was developed by Freud during the early years of
his medical practice in Vienna. Freud, however, would disagree. He insisted that psychoanalysis
was begun by the Viennese physician Josef Breuer (Freud, 1914/1995), a close friend and mentor of
Freud. The basis of psychoanalysis lay in a patient that Breuer had seen as early as 1880, and had
treated with hypnosis. This case, and the use of hypnosis as part of the “cathartic procedure”
developed by Breuer, was the original inspiration for Freud’s interest in hypnosis and his trip to Paris
to study the technique with Charcot. When Freud returned to Vienna, he asked Breuer to tell him all
of the details of this case, which involved a young woman. This famous patient, known as Anna O.,
was described by Breuer in the book coauthored by the two men (Freud & Breuer, 1895/2004). As
Freud used Breuer’s techniques with his own patients, however, he began to realize that something
was lacking. Hypnosis did little to reveal the underlying causes of the hysteria that their patients
were experiencing. Since Freud was every bit the scientist, he needed to know more about why he
was able to help some patients. He eventually replaced hypnosis with his own techniques of free
association (early 1890s) and, eventually, dream analysis (essentially done in 1896, but not
published until 1900). This was the point at which psychoanalysis, in the sense that we think of it
today, was born (Freud, 1914/1995, 1952).
As Freud’s ideas diverged from those of Breuer, the two parted ways. Freud then developed
the aspect of psychodynamic theory that led to his near total rejection by the German and Austrian
medical communities: the primacy of childhood sexuality. This theory was so difficult for others to
accept that Freud spent nearly 10 years working on psychoanalysis in isolation. However, Freud
claims that the concept of a sexual etiology for the neuroses was not really his idea, it had been
superficially suggested by Breuer, Charcot, and a highly respected Viennese gynecologist named
Chrobak (Freud, 1914/1995). During those years of isolation Freud began to define other major
aspects of psychodynamic theory, such as: resistance, repression, conflict, and conscious impulses.
Around 1902, Freud began to find support for his theories among a select group of
physicians. Shortly thereafter a group of psychiatrists in Zurich, Switzerland, which included Eugen
Bleuler (the man credited with identifying both schizophrenia and autism as we define them today)
and his assistant Carl Jung, began “taking a lively interest in psychoanalysis” (Freud, 1952). In 1909
Freud and Jung were invited to America, where they were warmly received, and psychoanalysis
became well-established in America and Canada. By the 1910s it was reported that psychoanalysis
was being championed in Austria, Switzerland, the United States, Canada, England, India, Chile,
Australasia (the region), France, Italy, Sweden, Russia, Hungary, Holland, and Norway (where the
first textbook on psychiatry that included psychoanalysis was written) (Freud, 1914/1995). Germany
proved quite resistant, although the renowned Karl Abraham practiced psychoanalysis in Berlin.
Perhaps it was inevitable that all of this success should eventually lead to conflict. Two
major groups, whose members differed significantly in their views on psychodynamic theory and
psychoanalysis, broke away from the main psychoanalytic groups. They were led by Alfred Adler
(see Chapter 4) and Carl Jung (Chapter 3). In his first autobiography, Freud is not exactly kind to
these two men. He goes to great length to dismiss Adler’s theories as mistaken, and he flatly rejects
Jung’s perspective:
Of the two movements under consideration here, Adler’s is undoubtedly the more
important. Though radically false, it is, nevertheless, characterized by consistency and coherence,
and it is still founded on the theory of the instincts. On the other hand, Jung’s modification has
slackened the connection between the phenomena and the instinctive-life; besides as its critics
(Abraham, Firenze, and Jones) have already pointed out, it is so unintelligible, muddled and
confused, that … it is impossible to know how one can arrive at a correct understanding of
it... (Freud, 1914/1995; pg. 940).
It is curious to speculate whether Freud’s isolation for so many years may have led to the
profound possessiveness he later expressed regarding psychoanalysis as his technique, and his
alone, in The History of the Psychoanalytic Movement:
...For psychoanalysis is my creation; for ten years I was the only one occupied with it, and all the
annoyance which this new subject caused among my contemporaries has been hurled upon my
head in the form of criticism. Even today, when I am no longer the only psychoanalyst, I feel myself
justified in assuming that nobody knows better than I what psychoanalysis is… (Freud, 1914/1995;
pg. 901)
Freud's Final Years
Freud’s final years were somewhat tumultuous. The Nazis had taken over Germany and
Austria, and they were rapidly preparing for World War II. Being Jewish, Freud’s life was in danger;
indeed, at least three of his sisters were murdered in the concentration camps, most likely in
Auschwitz (M. Freud, 1983). Freud, however, had influential friends, including European royalty and
wealthy individuals with ties to the British and American governments. The American secretary of
state, Cordell Hull, took word of the situation to President Franklin Roosevelt, and following
Roosevelt’s instructions, Hull had the American ambassador to Germany intervene on Freud’s
behalf (Gay, 1998; Jones, 1957). Freud also received substantial help and comfort from Marie
Bonaparte, H.R.H. the Princess George of Greece, including the payment of a ransom in order to
secure permission for Freud to leave Austria (M. Freud, 1983). Finally, in May 1938, Freud, his wife
Martha, and their daughter Anna left together for England, along with Freud’s dog. They were all
received quite warmly in London, except for the dog. She was quarantined for six months (M. Freud,
1983).
Freud, however, had already been ill for many years, and was suffering a great deal of pain
due to cancer. He was also in his eighties. Nonetheless, Freud continued to work, and he
completed An Outline of Psychoanalysis (1938/1949) and Moses and Monotheism (1939/1967)
while living in London. But the end was near, and the cancer was progressing rapidly. In
September 1939, Freud asked his doctor, Max Schur, to remember an agreement the two had made
not to prolong Freud’s life unnecessarily. Freud asked Schur to discuss his condition with Anna
Freud. Anna Freud at first resisted, but eventually submitted to the inevitable, and Schur
administered a series of morphine injections that proved fatal. Sigmund Freud died on September
23, 1939 (Gay, 1998; Jones, 1957).
In the funeral oration delivered by Ernest Jones, Jones remembered that three qualities had
particularly impressed him upon first meeting Freud: first, “his nobility of character;” second, “his
direct and instinctive love of truth;” and third, “his courage and inflexible determination.” Jones also
said that a “great spirit has passed from the world…for Freud so inspired us with his personality, his
character and his ideas that we can never truly part from him…” (Jones, 1957). Prior to the escape
from Austria, Freud had expressed a sincere desire to “die in freedom.” He loved England, where he
was able to accomplish that goal. In reference to England and the funeral ceremony, Jones said:
He died surrounded by every loving care, in a land that had shown him more courtesy, more
esteem and more honor than his own or any other land, a land which I think he himself esteemed
beyond all others. (pg. 247; Jones, 1957).
Placing Freud in Context: Connecting Personality Theories
Sigmund Freud was one of the greatest minds of modern times. He was the first person to
provide a comprehensive theory of personality and personality development, and he did so in what
he considered to be a logical and scientific manner. Since he was first, however, how can we place
him amongst the other great psychologists? As I contemplated the importance of Freud to the
history of psychology, I looked back at my own graduate school training. The textbook assigned for
my graduate history of psychology course was Theories and Systems of Psychology by Robert
Lundin (1979). In the chapter titles, Lundin mentions only three psychologists by name: Wilhelm
Wundt, the founder of experimental psychology; William James, America’s preeminent psychologist;
and Sigmund Freud. Since Freud’s name is also mentioned in the title of the chapter devoted to his
followers, Freud actually has two chapters devoted to his influence. I also looked at A History of
Psychological Theories by Ross Stagner (1988), who was an esteemed faculty member in the
psychology department at Wayne State University in Detroit and author of one of the first personality
textbooks (Stagner, 1937). Stagner mentions six individuals in the titles of his twenty-two chapters,
and once again Freud is among them. In addition, the well-known psychological historian Ludy
Benjamin includes a chapter on the correspondence between Freud and Jung in A History of
Psychology in Letters (1993). There are actually numerous books published on the correspondence
between Freud and a variety of other people, and thousands of those letters have been
published. These are just a few examples of how deeply Freud is recognized as a major figure in
the history of psychology.
Another testament to the legacy of Freud is how enduring some of the issues he addressed have
proven to be. In the early years of the twenty-first century there has been a growing conflict between
religion and society. In the United States the concept of separation of church and state has been
challenged perhaps most aggressively in our schools, with issues such as praying at school sporting
events and the teaching of creationism in science classes. In other countries, religious
fundamentalists often stand in opposition to the establishment of democratic
governments. Increasing globalization does not seem to be bringing people together, but rather
bringing people into competition and conflict. Freud used the knowledge he had learned in his
studies on psychoanalysis to address such major societal issues. He presented his ideas in books
such as The Future of an Illusion (1927/1961) and Civilization and its Discontents (1930/1961), and
he hoped that by advancing our knowledge of the human psyche we could help to continue the
development of the human species and civilization. The recognition that problems like these still
plague humanity suggests that we have a long way to go. But brilliant men like Sigmund Freud have
helped to provide us with a basis for moving forward.
Basic Concepts
It is not easy to read the earliest writings of Freud on psychoanalysis. Following his years of
working in isolation, Freud published four books in a span of 5 years: The Interpretation of Dreams
(1900/1995), Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1904/1995), Three Contributions to the Theory of
Sex (1905/1995), and Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious (1905/1995). Each of these books
clearly reflects their author: a genius, educated in Europe, and writing in a style well suited to the
late 1800s/early 1900s. Not only are these books intellectually challenging, but even the English
translations are sprinkled with lines in German, French, and Latin. In 1917, however, Freud
published a series of lectures he had given at the University of Vienna during the years 19151917. His Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis (1917/1966) describes the essential aspects of
his theory in neatly organized lectures that are much easier to grasp than his earlier work. Shortly
before he died, Freud presented a very brief outline of his theories in the aptly named An Outline of
Psycho-Analysis (1938/1949). In what seems to be a logical approach to the study of Freud’s work,
we will begin with the general theory and then address the psychoanalytic method. Keep in mind,
however, that Freud actually worked the other way around: first he developed his modifications of
Breuer’s cathartic method and began treating patients (actually, treating patients contributed to his
development of the methods), and then he developed his theoretical perspectives in order to explain
what had already proved successful.
Hysteria and Psychic Determinism
The term hysteria generally refers to a condition in which psychological trauma or stress is
converted into physical symptoms and/or excessive emotional behavior. Today, this condition is
typically referred to as a conversion disorder(DSM-V; American Psychiatric Association,
2013). However, Freud meant to use the term in a rather broad sense, and he applied it to a
collection of disorders that are not officially recognized today: the neuroses (relatively mild mental
illnesses, often associated with stress, but which do not result in a loss of contact with reality).
Freud and Breuer (1895/2004) believed that their clinical observations revealed a number of
key elements that provided the early framework for psychodynamic
theory and psychoanalysis. In each case, the symptoms exhibited by their patients were
connected to some earlier psychological trauma. This connection was not always obvious, however,
and often could not be remembered by the patient. When the patient was helped to remember the
traumatic event, the symptoms were typically relieved, a process known as catharsis. In order to
help patients remember, Breuer and Freud (as well as Charcot and a few others) relied primarily on
hypnosis. What intrigued Freud and Breuer was the observation that these traumatic memories
seemed to last for a very long time without getting weaker, even though they were not conscious
memories. What seemed to matter most was whether there had been an energetic reaction to the
emotional event when the memory was formed. In order for the trauma to be released, there
needed to be a cathartic event strong enough to adequately dissipate the energy associated with the
formation of the traumatic memory.
Both Freud and Breuer recognized that this was only the beginning of this new field of clinical
research. Although they were somewhat satisfied that they had described the nature of hysterical
symptoms, and that they had moved further than Charcot, they recognized that they were no closer
to understanding the internal causes of hysteria and the neuroses. This would become the work of
Freud alone, at least for a number of years.
The concept of psychic determinism arises naturally from these early observations. Freud
believed that all behavior and thought is the result of psychological connections created during
previous experiences, nothing happens by accident or chance. The fact that we might find it difficult
to recognize the connections between some emotion or behavior and a previous incident does
nothing to minimize the reality of those connections, it just presents a challenge for the
psychoanalyst. In Psychopathology of Everyday Life, Freud (1904/1995) described how psychic
determinism results in many common problems, certainly the most famous of which is the “Freudian
slip.” A Freudian slip is an instance where someone says something wrong, but it actually reflects
the persons true feelings. Freud attributed the following example to Dr. Brill:
While writing a prescription for a woman who was especially weighed down by the financial
burden of the treatment, I was interested to hear her say suddenly: “Please do not give me big bills,
because I cannot swallow them.” Of course, she meant to say pills. (italics in the original, pg. 50;
Freud, 1904/1995)
Discussion Question: Consider psychic determinism and what it means for your own life. Do you
believe that everything you think and do is predetermined by earlier experiences? And what would
that mean for your ability to change and grow?
Freud's Theory of Instincts
Freud used the term instinct in a way that does not fit with the technical term instinct as
defined by Tinbergen (see Beck, 1978). It has been suggested that the German word trieb should
not have been translated as instinct, and actually referred to something more like
a drive or impulse. Freud was not concerned with specific behaviors, but rather with general
categories of behavior. As a former scientist, Freud never left his interests in biology behind. When
Freud referred to the psyche, or mind, he considered both its physical elements, the brain and the
rest of the nervous system, and its mental elements, primarily our consciousness (which is made
possible by the structure and function of the brain). Given our basic biological nature, and our
genetic make-up, we inherit basic instincts essential to our survival: both our individual survival and
the survival of our species. In recognition of the general rule in nature that all systems are
comprised of opposing forces (attraction and repulsion) Freud hypothesized a life instinct and a
death instinct.
Freud gave the life instinct the name Eros. Each organism has available to it energy to act
within its environment. The energy associated with Eros is called libido. Libido has been
mistakenly associated with the concept of a sexual impulse. What Freud was really referring to was
a general survival impulse, both individual and species survival. While it is true that the survival of
our species depends on sexual reproduction, there are many aspects of our behavior that are not
directly related to sex. For example, we might have many friends, but our sexual interests are
typically limited to only a few (it is our culture that encourages us to limit our interests to only one
person). From an evolutionary perspective, of course, friends and others within our social group
helped to protect us from predators and enemies. Similarly, the love and care we provide for our
children are essential to the survival of our species, but are not usually associated with sexual
acts. Incest appears to be one of the most common cultural taboos, and Freud found this to be a
fascinating observation amongst primitive societies, which could not be expected to know anything
of Western ideas of morality (Freud, 1913/1995). So it becomes apparent that the impulse to
survive, Eros and its associated libido, involves many types of behavior, of which sexual intimacy is
just one.
Libido is limited. We have only so much energy to devote to the many aspects and
responsibilities of our lives. Cathexis refers to the attachment of libidinal energy to some psychical
phenomenon. This is what Freud and Breuer meant by an energetic reaction to some
experience. When we are attracted to someone, we connect some of our libidinal energy to that
relationship. That energy is no longer available to us for other relationships, or to deal with the daily
stress of our lives. If we have previously connected libidinal energy to some traumatic event, which
might require a great deal of libidinal energy, it may prove difficult to maintain the level of energy we
desire for our new relationship. As a result, that relationship, indeed all of our relationships, may
suffer.
Although the libido is limited, it has the important characteristic of mobility (Freud,
1938/1949). In other words, it can switch from one task to another as necessary. At least, that is
how it is supposed to work under normal conditions. Sometimes, however, problems arise, such as
the failure to satisfy the needs that occur during a particular psychosexual stage of development
(see below). When this occurs, the libido can become fixated on particular psychological
objects. These fixations can last a lifetime, interfering with continued normal development and the
individual’s ability to live a healthy adult life.
Freud also proposed a destructive instinct, which is sometimes referred to as the death
instinct. The energy associated with the death instinct is aggressive, but Freud never gave names to
either the death instinct or its associated aggressive energy. This was never an important aspect of
Freud’s theories, but he did address it in some detail in the book Beyond the Pleasure
Principle (Freud, 1920/1961). In this book, Freud makes one thing very clear: the life instinct is far
more influential than the death instinct. The primary role of the death instinct is protective. This may
sound strange, but he considered the developing organism, even well before birth, as a fragile being
assailed on all sides by threatening stimuli (both external stimuli and internal psychical stimuli). The
death instinct creates a shell of inert tissue (figuratively, if not also literally), which protects the
developing organism from harm.
Although Freud did not include the death instinct among his major concepts, other
psychologists have. The neo-Freudian theorist Melanie Klein found evidence of the death instinct in
the aggressive fantasies of children, and Wilhelm Reich’s concept of armoring is reminiscent of
Freud’s description of the theoretical shell protecting the developing organism. Regarding
aggression itself, there are many different forms, including predatory aggression, self-defense,
defense of one’s young, learned aggression, etc. The noted animal behaviorist and Nobel Laureate
Konrad Lorenz wrote extensively on aggression, and he proposed a very Freudian perspective in
which instinctive aggressive energy builds up and lashes out, unless an opportunity for catharsis
arises first (see Beck, 1978).
At first it might seem strange that Freud suggested the role of the death instinct is to create a
protective shell around the core of the developing nervous system, but the important question is
whether we can find any evidence of it. Daniel Goleman, in Emotional Intelligence (1995), suggests
a similar theory. The primitive role of emotion is evident in the brain regions devoted to emotion,
which are common to many species other than humans. As the mammalian brain evolved,
structures were added to the reptilian brain, culminating in the neocortex of the cerebral
hemispheres. The cerebral hemispheres are necessary for the cognitive functions that are
characteristic of humans. Still, we retain the emotional structures that developed first, and our
rational thoughts can easily be hijacked by emotional reactions (Goleman, 1995, 1998). Perhaps the
most important brain region involved in the processing of emotional information is
the amygdala. Jerome Kagan has suggested that if the amygdala is overly sensitive a child will
avoid external stimuli, leading to a life of shyness, and vice versa (cited in Goleman, 1995). The
development of brain structures that process emotion and allow for cognitive processing well beyond
the primitive and most basic emotions sounds very much like what Freud had proposed regarding
the role of the death instinct. This is not to suggest that either the amygdala or some portion of the
neocortex is the anatomical location of the death instinct, but the evidence that such functions exist
within the brain lends support to Freud’s concept. According to Goleman, the ability to work with
emotional intelligence is essential to one’s well-being in life, and fortunately emotional intelligence
can be trained and strengthened (Goleman, 1995, 1998).
Discussion Question: Compare Freud’s concept of a life instinct and a death instinct, and consider
the choices you make in life. Do you make choices that provide an opportunity to grow and change,
or do you get caught up in pointless, even self-defeating, activities? If you make bad choices, where
do you think those choices come from?
The Development of Libido and Psychosexual Function
Freud’s most controversial theories related to sexual function and its role in personality
development. Even more controversial than that initial statement was his suggestion that the sexual
life of every person begins at birth. It is important, of course, to remember that Freud did not mean
intimate sexual behavior when he talked about sexual impulses, but rather a general life
impulse. He made an important distinction between “sexual” and “genital.” By sexual he was
referring to a wider concept of obtaining pleasure from different regions of the body, whereas genital
refers to the act of reproduction, which comes into play following puberty.
Freud was well aware of this controversy during the early days of psychoanalysis, and many
of his books make a special point of defending the theory of infantile sexuality. As mentioned in the
biography, he actually attributed the initial observations of the role of sexuality in the development of
neuroses to Breuer, Charcot, and Chrobak (Freud, 1914/1995). As he reflected on the history of
psychoanalysis, Freud described how he and others before him had not intended to address infantile
sexuality, but it proved unavoidable after extensive experience with psychoanalysis. In other words,
Freud kept encountering infantile sexuality, and eventually he concluded that it was both universal
and far too important to ignore. Therefore, he felt he could not allow old prejudices against
recognizing or discussing the relevance of sexuality to interfere with the development of
psychoanalysis (see Freud, 1938/1949).
Freud also defended his theory of sexuality in logical ways. In his initial work on this
topic, Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex (1905/1995), Freud specifically argued against the
prevailing views that sexuality develops at puberty for the purpose of attracting a man and a woman
to each other for the ultimate purpose of reproduction. He noted that there are individuals who are
attracted to members of their own sex, that there are those who engage in sexual acts that disregard
the genitalia (e.g., fetishes), and there are undeniable examples of children who become interested
in their genitalia and obtain some excitation from them. Finally, in his Introductory
Lectures… (Freud, 1917/1966) he declared his position quite clearly:
To suppose that children have no sexual life – sexual excitations and needs and a kind of
satisfaction – but suddenly acquire it between the ages of twelve and fourteen, would (quite apart
from any observations) be as improbable, and indeed senseless, biologically as to suppose that they
brought no genitals with them into the world and only grew them at the time of puberty. (pg. 385).
Levels of Consciousness
From the very beginning of psychoanalysis, Freud and Breuer (1895/2004) recognized that
their patients were often unaware of the connections between their symptoms and earlier traumatic
events, and they might not even recall the events themselves. And yet, as described above, the
memory of those events remained strong. How can a memory be strong but not remembered? The
answer lies in the theory that there are different levels of consciousness. Freud described three
levels of consciousness: the conscious, the preconscious, and the unconscious.
The conscious mind is our awareness, the knowledge that we exist and are alive. As you
read this book you are conscious of it, when you talk to a friend you are aware of what they are
saying and how you will respond (unless, of course, you respond with a Freudian slip!). Although
the conscious mind is usually identified with our personality, and Freud recognized that people
viewed consciousness as nothing more or less than the defining characteristic of the mind, his
clinical experience with psychoanalysis made it impossible for him to accept the identification of the
conscious mind with the mental mind (Freud, 1917/1966).
The unconscious mind, according to Freud, is the true psychic reality, and all conscious
thought has a preliminary unconscious stage. And yet, the unconscious mind is truly
inaccessible. In The Interpretation of Dreams (1900/1995), Freud wrote about the unconscious mind
that:
…in its inner nature it is just as much unknown to us as the reality of the external world, and it is
just as imperfectly communicated to us by the data of consciousness as is the external world by the
reports of our sense-organs. (pg. 510)
How then does the unconscious mind affect our personality? Between the unconscious and
conscious minds there is an intermediary: the preconscious. Technically, the preconscious mind is
part of the unconscious, but only through the preconscious mind can the impulses arising in the
unconscious enter into our conscious awareness. Freud distinguished between the two by
theorizing that the unconscious cannot enter into consciousness, but if certain rules are followed, the
preconscious can enter into consciousness (but perhaps only after being censored; Freud,
1900/1995).
Freud also made two important points regarding these levels of the mind. First, the
unconscious, preconscious, and conscious minds are not located in different regions of the
brain. Instead, the level of consciousness of any particular psychical phenomenon depends on the
cathexis of libidinal energy (or perhaps energy related to the death instinct) and repression
(see Anxiety and Defense Mechanisms below). If the memory of a traumatic event is significantly
repressed, it will remain in the unconscious, if not, it may enter into consciousness through the
preconscious. Yet it has remained the same memory within the same memory structure of the
brain. Freud also distinguished between the mind and reality, particularly between the unconscious
mind and reality. He did, however, remind his readers that they would do well to remember that
psychic reality is a special form of existence, though not to be confused with material reality (Freud,
1900/1995).
Structure of Personality
It is no accident that our discussion of the id, ego, and superego follow immediately after
our discussion of the levels of consciousness. In The Ego and the Id (which also discuss the
superego, despite not including it in the title; Freud, 1923/1960), Freud begins with a chapter on
consciousness and what is unconscious, then follows with a chapter on the ego and the id, and then
a chapter on the ego and the superego. It is difficult to discuss the two concepts, levels of
consciousness and the psychical apparatus (a term Freud used for the id, ego, and superego),
without intertwining them. In addition, these three structures begin as one, the ego develops from
the id, and later the superego develops from the ego. As with levels of consciousness, it is
inappropriate to think of the id, ego, and superego as actual structures within the brain, rather they
are constructs to help us understand the psychodynamic functioning of the mind. Freud
acknowledged this lack of understanding, and went so far as to say that even if we could localize
them within the brain we wouldn’t necessarily be any closer to understanding how they function
(Freud, 1938/1949).
Id, Ego, Superego
The oldest aspect of the psyche is the id, which includes all that we inherit at birth, including
our temperament and our instincts. The only goal of the id is to satisfy instinctual needs and desires;
therefore, it acts according to the pleasure principle. It knows nothing of value judgments, no
good, no evil, and no morality at all. It does not change or mature over time. According to Freud,
there is nothing in the id except instinctual cathexes seeking discharge (Freud, 1933/1965). The
energy associated with these impulses, however, is different from other regions of the mind. It is
highly mobile and capable of discharge, and the quality of the discharge seems to be
disregarded. This is a very important point, because it means that the id does not need to satisfy its
desires in reality. Instead, they can be satisfied through dreams and fantasy.
Because the id demands satisfaction, and knows nothing of restraint, it is said to operate as
a primary process. Since it can be satisfied in unreal ways, if we examine phenomena such as
fantasies and dreams we can uncover the nature of the id. It was during his studies on dream-work
that Freud developed his understanding of the primary process of the id (Freud,
1923/1960). Actually, we can only know the id through psychoanalysis, since it exists entirely within
the unconscious mind. Therefore, we need a secondary process structure in order for the mind to
interact with the external world. This structure is found in the ego.
The ego arises from the id as an intermediary between the id and the external world. The
ego functions according to the reality principle, and tries to bring the external world to bear on the
impulses of the id. In other words, as the id demands satisfaction it is hindered by the reality of our
environment, our societal and cultural norms. The ego postpones satisfaction until the time or the
circumstances are appropriate, or it may suppress the id impulses altogether (Freud,
1938/1949). Freud believed that the ego is associated with perception (of reality), in the same way
that the id is associated with instinct. The id is passionate, whereas the ego represents reason and
common sense. But the id has the energy, the libido, to demand its satisfaction in some way, and
the ego can only derive its energy from the id. Freud likened the ego to a horseback rider on a
horse named id. The rider cannot always control the far more powerful horse, so the rider attempts
to transform the will of the horse as if it were the rider’s own will (Freud, 1923/1960).
The ego develops in part because it is that portion of the mind impacted by sensory input
from the external world. Therefore, it resides partially in the conscious mind, and must serve three
tyrannical masters: the id, the external world, and the superego (which we will discuss below). The
goals of these three masters are typically at odds with one another, and so the ego’s task is not an
easy one (Freud, 1933/1965). The ego approaches this task by monitoring the tension that exists
within the mind. This tension arises from internal and external stimuli making demands upon the
mind, lowering this tension is felt as pleasurable, and increasing the tension is unpleasant. The id
demands immediate reduction of tension, in accordance with its pleasure principle, whereas the ego
seeks an appropriate reduction of tension, in accordance with its reality principle. A key point, of
course, is that the ego also seeks pleasure. It does not try to deny the impulses of the id, only to
transform or delay them. But why does the ego even bother to do that? There are times when
pursuing pleasure can get us in serious trouble, but there are also times when we make choices
because they seem right to us. These decisions, based on justice, morality, humanism, whatever
term you choose, are mediated by the superego.
According to Freud, the superego is heir to the Oedipus complex (which we will discuss
below), and arises as the child abandons their intense attachment to their parents. As a
replacement for that attachment, the child begins to identify with their parents, and so incorporates
the ideals and moral values of their parents and, later, teachers and other societal role models
(Freud, 1933/1965). According to this view, the superego cannot fully develop if the child does not
resolve the Oedipus complex, which, as we will discuss below, cannot happen for girls (Note: In
addition to further discussion below, the issue of a more balanced female psychology will be
discussed again in later chapters). The superego functions across all levels of the conscious and
unconscious mind.
The superego takes two forms: an ego-ideal and a conscience. Freud considered the term
ego-ideal as an alternative to the term superego, and it is not until we incorporate the development
of conscience that we can recognize ego-ideal and conscience as different aspects of the
superego. Indeed, it might be more appropriate, if one reads The Ego and the Id carefully (Freud,
1923/1960), to consider the ego-ideal and conscience as consecutive transformations of that portion
of the ego that becomes known in general as the superego. The development of the superego is a
complicated process, and seems to derive from the development of the ego itself. For an infant, the
attachment to the parents and identification with them is not recognized as something different. The
ego is weak, and can do little to restrain the id. As the child grows, the erotic nature of the love for
the mother is slowly transformed into identification; the ego grows stronger, and begins to become
associated with being a love-object itself. When the ego is capable of presenting itself to the id as
an object worthy of love, narcissistic libido is generated and the ego becomes fully formed (Freud,
1923/1960). In other words, the child becomes an individual, aware that they are separate from their
parents. There is still an intense attachment to the mother, however, which stems from the early
days of breast feeding. The child must eventually lose this intense attachment to the mother, and
begin to more fully identify with either the father (for boys) or the mother (for girls). As noted above,
this final transformation from attachment to identification should occur during the Oedipus complex,
and the ego-ideal arises within the context of the child knowing “I should act like my father” (for boys)
or “I should act like my mother” (for girls).
Although the ego-ideal could represent the culmination of development, Freud believed that
one more step came into play. Because of the difficulty the child encounters during the loss of the
intense, erotic desires of the Oedipus complex, Freud felt there was more than simply a residue of
those love-objects in the mind. He proposed an energetic reaction-formation against the earlier
choices. Now, the child incorporates concepts of “I must not act like my father or mother.” Under
the influences of authority, schooling, religion, etc., the superego develops an ever stronger
conscience against inappropriate behavior. This conscience has a compulsive character and takes
the form of a categorical imperative (Freud, 1923/1960). This conscience is our knowledge of right
and wrong, and early on it is quite simplistic. There is right and there is wrong (as with Kohlberg’s
earliest stages of moral development; Kohlberg, 1963).
Discussion Question: Do you feel that your behavior is being driven by the unconscious impulses
of the id? Do you believe that your moral development (your superego) is the result of internalizing
your parent’s views of what is right or wrong? How close are your values to those of your parents?
Anxiety
We have already taken a look at the challenge faced by the ego in trying to balance the
demands of the id, the superego, and the external world. What happens when the demands of
these conflicting elements become too much for the ego to deal with? Simply put, we get scared, we
experience fear and anxiety as a signal that there is some impending danger. Only the ego can
experience anxiety, even if the underlying cause begins with the id or superego. Anxiety arises
primarily from libido that has not been utilized. For example, if we are frustrated from fulfilling some
id impulse, such as needing to go to the bathroom in the middle of a great movie, the libido cathexed
to that impulse grows. This creates tension and the corresponding unpleasant feelings. As the id
demands satisfaction, but the ego cannot figure out how to satisfy the id (and you really don’t want to
miss the good part of the movie), the fear arises that the id will satisfy itself. Most of us would
consider the possibility of going to the bathroom in our pants while at a movie a real danger to our
self-esteem, and we could be arrested if we simply went to the bathroom right there in the movie
theater. As the ego is reduced to helplessness in its inability to find a reasonable outlet for the
impulse of needing to go to the bathroom, anxiety serves the useful and important purpose of
warning the ego that the impulse must be satisfied in order to avoid the danger (Freud,
1926/1959). And in support of Freud’s view regarding our sexual nature, who would deny the great
pleasure felt upon finally getting to the bathroom?
Freud described three general types of anxiety. Realistic anxiety involves actual threats to
our physical safety. It is similar to fear, in that there is a real and external object that could harm us,
but it differs from fear in that we may not be aware of a specific danger. For example, after the
famous book Jaws (Benchley, 1974) was made into a movie (the kind of movie that you don’t want
to miss the good scenes) many people became anxious about swimming in the ocean, even though
there were no specific sharks for them to fear. Still, there are sharks in the ocean, so it might be
reasonable to experience some anxiety. Sometimes we are anxious about a real danger, but the
anxiety we experience is completely out of proportion in relation to the threat. This suggests that
there is an element of neurotic anxiety accompanying the realistic anxiety (Freud, 1926/1959).
Neurotic anxiety generally arises from an internal danger, the threat that unacceptable id
impulses will break through and be acted on by the individual. The ultimate danger that exists is that
we really will be harmed as a result of our actions. Therefore, Freud considered there to be a close
association between neurotic and realistic anxiety (Freud, 1926/1959). For example, if we are being
harassed by a bully, our aggressive id impulse might be to respond by killing this bully. Of course,
that could result in going to prison or having the bully’s friends kill us. So the anxiety that our violent
id impulse might break out and influence our behavior is associated with the real danger posed by
the consequences of that behavior, if it should happen to occur. Therefore, our neurotic anxiety is
composed, in part, of our internalized realistic anxiety.
In a similar way, moral anxiety arises from conflict between our ego and the constraints
imposed on it by the superego. Since the superego arises from the internalization of our parent’s
teaching us what is or is not appropriate behavior, we again have an association between the
internal threat of the superego and the real, external threat of being punished by our
parents. Therefore, as with neurotic anxiety, the precursor to our moral anxiety is realistic anxiety,
even if our fears are based on our psychological impressions of a situation as opposed to an actual
danger (e.g., the fear of castration; Freud, 1926/1959, 1933/1965). Freud (1933/1965) described the
relationships this way:
Thus the ego, driven by the id, confined by the super-ego, repulsed by reality, struggles to master
its economic task of bringing about harmony among the forces and influences working in and upon
it; and we can understand how it is that so often we cannot suppress a cry: ‘Life is not easy!’ If the
ego is obliged to admit its weakness, it breaks out in anxiety – realistic anxiety regarding the external
world, moral anxiety regarding the super-ego and neurotic anxiety regarding the strength of the
passions in the id. (pgs. 97-98)
Freud also described an overall pattern to the development and expression of anxiety and its
useful role in life. In early childhood we experience traumatic situations in which we are
helpless. Remember that Freud believed that psychic reality is every bit as significant as actual
reality (Freud, 1900/1995), so the nature of these traumatic events is subject to individual
perception. As the child’s capacity for self-preservation develops, the child learns to recognize
dangerous situations. Rather than waiting passively to be threatened or harmed, an older child or an
adult will respond actively. The initial response is anxiety, but anxiety is a warning of danger in
anticipation of experiencing helplessness once again. In a sense, the ego is recreating to the
helplessness of infancy, but it does so in the hope that now the ego will have at its command some
means of dealing with the situation. Therefore, anxiety has hopefully transformed from a passive
response in infancy to an active and protective response in later childhood and/or adulthood (Freud,
1926/1959).
Discussion Question: What makes you anxious, and how do you respond to those feelings?
Defense Mechanisms
We will cover defense mechanisms only briefly in this chapter. Although Freud talked
about a wide variety of defense mechanisms during his career, he left it to his daughter Anna to
literally write the book on The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense (Anna Freud,
1936/1966). Freud himself discussed primarily two defense
mechanisms: repression and regression. The recognition of these defense mechanisms was
essential to the development of psychoanalysis, and they are the only two defenses mentioned by
Freud in The History of the Psychoanalytic Movement (1914/1995). The purpose of these defense
mechanisms is to protect the ego during the early years of life, when the ego has not adequately
developed in its ability to control the libidinal impulses of the id. Thus, defense mechanisms serve a
useful function at first, but later prove inadequate when the re-animation of the sexual life is
reinforced following puberty (Freud, 1938/1949). Similarly, in adult life, defense mechanisms are
useful in the short-term, but since they do not deal with problems directly they must eventually prove
inadequate.
Freud identified repression as one of the key elements establishing psychoanalysis as
unique from the cathartic method he had been working on thanks to the contributions of Josef
Breuer (Freud, 1914/1995). Indeed, according to Freud, his own contributions that transformed
Breuer’s cathartic method into psychoanalysis were repression, resistance, infantile sexuality, and
dream analysis for the understanding of the unconscious mind. The value of repression cannot be
underestimated:
The theory of repression is the pillar upon which the edifice of psychoanalysis rests. It is really
the most essential part of it, and yet, it is nothing but the theoretical expression of an experience
which can be repeatedly observed whenever one analyses a neurotic without the aid of
hypnosis. One is then confronted with a resistance which opposes and blocks the analytic work by
causing failures of memory. This resistance was always covered by the use of hypnosis; the history
of psychoanalysis proper, therefore, starts with the technical innovation of the rejections of
hypnosis. (pg. 907; Freud, 1914/1995)
The resistance Freud is referring to here is the defense mechanism of repression, which is
the means by which the ego refuses to associate itself with an unacceptable instinctual impulse
generated by the id. The ego is able to keep the “reprehensible” impulse from entering into the
conscious mind (Freud, 1926/1959). But an important question arises: What then happens to this
impulse seeking satisfaction? There are several possibilities, and Freud himself considered the
answer to be rather complex. One thing that might happen is that the ego attempts to shift the libido
cathexed to the impulse toward release as anxiety (Freud, 1926/1959). However, anxiety is
unpleasant, and the id demands satisfaction in accordance with its pleasure principle. Therefore,
this procedure is doomed to failure (and, therefore, the development of neurosis). There are, of
course, alternatives that can occur prior to the failure of this initial defense. The ego may find some
acceptable alternative to the impulse through the other defense mechanisms, such
as sublimation or reaction-formation.
Regression can be seen when an individual engages in behavior typical of an earlier stage of
development. As Freud and Breuer tried to work out the causes of their patient’s neuroses by using
the cathartic method, they repeatedly found that they could not help their patients by focusing on the
actual event that had led to a crisis. Instead, their patients inevitably made associations between the
traumatic event and earlier experiences. Initially, these earlier experiences went back to puberty,
and ultimately they went back to early childhood. Although Breuer favored some physiological
explanation of this phenomenon, Freud insisted that it was psychological, and he termed the process
regression (Freud, 1914/1995). According to Freud:
This regressive direction became an important characteristic of the analysis. It was proved that
psychoanalysis could not clear up anything actual, except by going back to something in the
past. (pg. 903)
Psychosexual Stages of Development
Above, we examined the basic development of libido and psychosexual function. Freud also
believed that psychosexual function developed in a series of stages that occur in two waves. The
first three stages occur during early childhood, from infancy to about the age of 5. Freud referred to
this early period as the pregenital phase (Freud, 1905/1995). There is then a latency period,
which lasts until puberty, after which the final stage, the genital stage, is realized and the individual
is capable of physically mature reproductive functioning. These stages are typically presented as if
they are exclusive and sequential. Although it is true that they are sequential, they are not entirely
exclusive. Therefore, it is possible for the stages to overlap (Freud, 1938/1949). However, it
remains true that during a particular stage one region of the body will be dominant, and most of the
libido will be focused on that region (see Jarvis, 2004). For the sake of simplicity, we will treat the
stages as if they occur one after another.
The Psychosexual Stages
The first phase of psychosexual development begins at infancy with the oral
stage. According to Freud, the mouth is the first region of the body to become an erotogenic zone,
and this lasts for approximately the first year of life. During this time the mouth makes libidinal
demands on the mind. In other words, the region of the mouth demands that the mind direct
adequate libidinal energy to satisfy the desires of the oral region. Although this serves the purpose
of sustaining the infant by satisfying its nutritional needs, Freud believed that the infant’s persistent
sucking belied a need for satisfaction that was far greater than simply taking care of physiological
needs. He believed that the infant needed to satisfy its desire for psychological pleasure
independent of nourishment, and this was the basis for arguing that the behavior was sexual (in the
larger, life-oriented perspective on sexuality).
Evidence for this stage is easy to see, and such commonplace observances contributed to
Freud’s thinking. Infants suck almost continuously, even when not being fed. They suck their
thumbs, they can be comforted with pacifiers, as they become older they put everything they can get
their hands on into their mouths. If they cannot satisfy this need, they may become fixated in the
oral stage. As a result of this oral fixation, when an older child or adult becomes frustrated or
overwhelmed, they may regress and engage in oral behavior. This occurs because the fixation of
libido on the oral region during infancy results in a deficiency of the libidinal energy needed to cope
with some stressful period of adulthood. This oral behavior can take many forms, such
as: overeating, smoking, drinking too much (of course, this usually refers to drinking alcoholic
beverages), or just talking excessively.
During the second stage of psychosexual development, the anal stage, the anus becomes
the focus of the libido, and the child derives pleasure from the ability to both retain and expel
feces. Initially, the pleasure associated with evacuating the bowels is felt within the child, something
Freud referred to as the autoerotic nature of sexual development (Freud, 1917/1966). Soon,
however, the child learns that the world can be an inhibiting place, that greater pleasure can be
derived only if the child defecates when and where others consider it to be appropriate. This
realization occurs as a result of the most significant parent-child interaction during this stage of
development: toilet training. If the parents are either too strict or begin too early the child may
develop the traits of an anal character (Jarvis, 2004). These traits include excessive orderliness,
stubbornness, and parsimony, each of which results from denial of the child’s anal pleasure during
toilet training. Orderliness, or tidiness, serves as a denial of taking pleasure in defecating, and
stubbornness carries over from the child’s assertion of their right to defecate at will (Jarvis,
2004). Parsimony, or being stingy, stems from the child’s association of the feces with
money. According to Freud (1917/1966):
He feels no disgust at his feces, values them as a portion of his own body with which he will not
readily part, and makes use of them as his first ‘gift,’ to distinguish people whom he values
especially highly. (pg. 390)
Freud was by no means unaware of how strange this part of his theory
seemed. Immediately following the above quote, he went on to say the following, and remember
that his Introductory Lectures on Psycho-analysis were actual lectures delivered to students at the
University of Vienna:
I know you have been wanting for a long time to interrupt me and exclaim: ‘Enough of these
atrocities! You tell us that defecating is a source of sexual satisfaction, and already exploited in
infancy! That feces are a valuable substance and that the anus is a kind of genital! We don’t
believe all that…’ No, Gentlemen. You have merely forgotten that I have been trying to introduce
the facts of infantile sexual life to you in connection with the facts … that for a large number of
adults, homosexual and heterosexual alike, the anus does really take over the role of the vagina in
sexual intercourse? (pg. 391)
So Freud was simply trying to address very real issues that he, and others, had observed in
their clinical practices. His years of working in isolation had prepared him for dealing with
disapproval, and he was not going to be shy about studying things that might make others
uncomfortable.
The phallic stage, in which the libido focuses on the genitalia, represents the culmination of
infantile sexuality. Although it typically occurs between the ages of 3 to 5 years old, it sets the stage
for adult sexuality. Therefore, it is a very important period. According to Freud (1905/1995), this
stage will “leave behind the profoundest (unconscious) impressions in the person’s memory; if the
individual remains healthy they determine his character and if he becomes sick after puberty, they
determine the symptomatology of his neurosis.” There are two critical aspects of this stage: the first
involves the castration complex and penis envy, and the second is the Oedipus
complex. Technically, the Oedipus complex subsumes castration anxiety, but it is important to
consider these aspects separately. In Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex (Freud, 1905/1995),
the book that obviously focuses on the sexual aspects of psychoanalysis, Freud discussed the
castration complex and penis envy, but not the Oedipus complex. Although he discussed the
Oedipus legend in his earlier books, he did not use the term Oedipus complex until 1910 (see Jarvis,
2004). The other reason for considering the major aspects of this stage separately is the difference
between boys and girls. Penis envy is obviously something that only girls can experience and,
according to Freud, the Oedipus complex is something that only boys can experience. Girls
experience something similar to the Oedipus complex, but their efforts are in vain, and this has a
permanent, negative effect on their character (Freud, 1938/1949). For more discussion on the latter
point, see the section below on Freud’s perspective on the female psyche.
As we begin to address the castration complex and penis envy, it is important to realize that
Freud’s phallic stage is entirely focused on the penis, for both boys and girls. As the libido becomes
focused on the genitals, a boy begins to manipulate his penis. He experiences no shame, and even
enjoys displaying his body (Freud, 1905/1995). As a counterpart to this joy in his own sexuality,
children are often curious about seeing other children’s bodies. This creates a very different
experience for boys and girls. When boys see a girl’s body, they believe the absence of a penis
means that the girl has been castrated. This leads to a fear of the same thing happening to them,
and creates castration anxiety, which in adulthood can lead to a castration complex. When girls see
a boy’s body they are fully prepared to recognize the penis, and they become envious of it. Indeed,
this envy can become strong enough that the girl wishes she was a boy (Freud, 1905/1995). Since
she cannot be a boy, she begins to seek an alternative, either her father or a child of her own.
As Freud continued to develop his theory of the phallic stage, he included a broader
perspective beyond the castration complex: the Oedipus complex. A boy’s first love object is his
mother, the one who feeds him and attends to all of his needs. This is only natural. As his libido
becomes focused on his genitalia, however, this takes on the sexual desire that became so
controversial. Keeping in mind that Freud did not believe that children understand the adult reality of
their desires (much of it is unconscious), he described their behaviors as obvious evidence of their
desire: boys talk about loving and marrying their mother, they persistently pursue being in her
presence when she is dressing, they want to be in bed with her at night, etc. (Freud,
1917/1966). This eventually leads to conflict with the father, and with it the castration anxiety
described above. Since there is no satisfactory resolution, given that the father is much more
powerful than the child, the boy is compelled to give up the Oedipus complex, to repress it. In the
healthiest condition, the Oedipus complex is completely destroyed in the id, and gives rise to a
severe superego (Freud, 1933/1965). This repression, or destruction, of the Oedipus complex
allows the boy to transition into the latency period.
For girls, the Oedipus complex takes a very different course. A girl’s first love object is also
her mother, since again it is the mother who provides most of the childcare. Once the girl realizes
that she does not have a penis she develops penis envy, and she must undertake a change in her
love object to her father, the one who can provide her with the desired penis. The mother is then
seen as a rival for the father’s penis, and indeed as someone who has already received all that the
girl wants from her father. This can intensify feelings of hostility toward the mother. Consequently,
she may enter into the Oedipus complex feeling that it is a refuge or safe haven. However, the girl
does not fear castration, since she has no penis to begin with, and without the fear of castration
leading to repression of the Oedipus complex there is no motivation for the girl to move into the
latency period (Freud, 1933/1965). Freud believed that girls remain in the Oedipus complex, and
thus the phallic stage, for an indeterminate period of time, and that they cannot ever completely
resolve it. Adding one more point of controversy, the only way in which girls can shift from an initially
masculine situation (the mother as love object) to a feminine situation (the father as love object) is if
they replace their penis envy with the desire for a child, given the ancient symbolic equivalence
between the penis and giving birth (Freud, 1933/1965).
Following the oral, anal, and phallic stages there is a period of latency, during which progress
is at a standstill. There are, however, some interesting things that happen during this period. The
child knows that they are still incapable of procreation (even though this knowledge may be
unconscious), so they begin to turn away from their sexual desires. They begin to view sexual
impulses with disgust and shame, and to consider them immoral (Freud, 1905/1995). Although their
education has much to do with this, Freud believed that it is also a natural occurrence. To
compensate, the child (or the child’s mind, as this again may be entirely unconscious) engages the
defense mechanism of sublimation: the conversion of the unacceptable sexual impulses into
activities that are socially acceptable (such as school work or sports). Another important
consequence of this mental activity is that we forget our infantile sexual impulses, something Freud
called infantile amnesia. Infantile amnesia is critical to the whole theory of the development of
neuroses and the technique of psychoanalysis (Freud, 1938/1949), and it is one of the main reasons
that many adults insist upon denying the possibility of infantile sexuality in the first place.
With the onset of puberty, the individual enters the final stage of psychosexual development:
the genital stage. If the challenges of the earlier stages have been resolved in a satisfactory way,
the individual is finally capable of appropriate and mature intimacy and sexual behavior. All of the
psychodynamic processing that has taken place is not gone, however. According to Freud
(1938/1949), even normal people have some of the following factors included in their final
psychosexual organization: some libidinal cathexes are retained, others are taken into sexual
activity as preliminary acts (such as foreplay), and still others are excluded from the organization
either by repression or sublimation.
Freud's Perspective on the Female Psyche
I would like to begin this section by being fair to Freud. First and foremost, there were no
other theories on the development of personality for Freud to consider as he developed his own
theory. Second, most of the patients Freud saw were women, and apparently he needed to explain
how it was that so many of his patients were women and not men. There were certainly other
possible explanations than those offered by Freud, but it has been easy for others to look back and
criticize him with the benefit of new and different ideas. One must also keep in mind that Freud was
a basic scientist for many years, and he put a lot of emphasis on details. It is an undeniable,
biological fact that men are male and women are female! Freud believed that psychology could
never truly understand sex and gender differences unless we could understand why so many
species exists as two different sexes in the first place (Freud, 1933/1965). Nonetheless, having
acknowledged this, Freud’s theory does, unfortunately, describe women as the products of an
incomplete and frustrated male development.
Freud believed that the development of the feminine psyche was more difficult and
complicated than that of the masculine psyche for two main reasons, neither of which is faced by
boys during their development. Initially, there are basic biological differences, both anatomically and
in terms of temperament. Girls are typically less aggressive, defiant, and self-sufficient; they also
seem to have a greater need for affection, and as a result become more dependent and
pliant. However, Freud disregarded these differences, feeling that they were insignificant compared
to individual differences between boys and girls (Freud, 1933/1965). Through much of the first wave
of infantile sexuality, particularly the oral and anal stages, there is no difference between boys and
girls. Even during the early portion of the phallic stage there is no difference between the sensations
boys experience via the penis and the sensations girls experience via the clitoris. The first
difference, however, arises from the need for girls to shift the focus of their libido from the clitoris to
the vagina, particularly with regard to the importance of the latter for sexual activity leading to
procreation. The second difference is the need for the girl to shift the focus of her libido from the
mother to the father as she enters the Oedipus complex. This shift in the love object is not easy,
and the outcome is not pleasant.
Freud proposed that the young girl’s attraction to her father at the beginning of the Oedipus
complex is not simply a shift in the libido, but involves a rejection of the mother who had been the
previous love object. The girl’s rejection of her mother is accompanied by hostility, and can end in
hate. The hate can be profound and last the girl’s entire life, even if it is carefully compensated for
later in life (Freud, 1933/1965). The reason for this hostility toward the mother arises from the
castration complex and penis envy. Whereas a boy fears being castrated, the girl believes that she
already has been, and the mother is responsible. The girl then develops an overwhelming desire to
have a penis, the so-called penis envy, but it simply cannot be. Even when a girl is old enough to
understand the basic biology of sex differences, she still retains an unconscious feeling of having
been wronged and a considerable cathexis of libido remains (Freud, 1933/1965). It is interesting to
note that Freud acknowledges that it is difficult to see these processes in action if one simply
observes young girls. However, in his clinical practice he saw patients whose neuroses amplified
these processes, and following psychoanalysis the underlying basis of this developmental stage
seemed evident to Freud.
How then is a girl to resolve the Oedipus complex and achieve a healthy, adult
personality? As described above, she can’t! In Freud’s own words:
The girl, after vainly attempting to do the same as the boy, comes to recognize her lack of a
penis or rather the inferiority of her clitoris, with permanent effects on the development of her
character; as a result of this first disappointment in rivalry, she often begins by turning away
altogether from sexual life. (pg. 26; Freud, 1938/1949)
In these circumstances the formation of the superego must suffer; it cannot attain the
strength and independence which give it its cultural significance, and feminists are not pleased when
we point out to them the effects of this factor upon the average feminine character. (pgs. 160-161;
Freud, 1933/1965).
Another important observation that came to Freud in his early psychoanalytic practice was
the recognition that almost all of his female patients reported having been seduced by their fathers
(which, if true, is an inaccurate way of saying they were sexually assaulted by a child
molester). This led Freud to propose a seduction theory, which was the basis for first proposing
the role of sexual trauma in the development of neuroses. This sexual trauma did not have to be as
severe as rape, but it was considered significant nonetheless (see Jarvis, 2004). Later, however,
Freud came to the conclusion that these seductions occurred only in the fantasies of the young
girls. Indeed, Freud described the fantasy of a young girl being seduced by her father as the typical
expression of the Oedipus complex in women (Freud, 1933/1965). Freud was criticized for
theorizing that young girls fantasized about being seduced by their fathers, and Breuer ended his
pursuit of understanding sexual trauma when faced with the same conclusion (Freud,
1914/1995). Today, however, Freud is criticized more for having turned away from what may have
been his most startling discovery, the prevalence of sexual abuse (see Jarvis, 2004).
Connections Across Cultures: Male/Female Differences
We don’t normally think of men and women as being different cultures, but this has become a
more popular approach to understanding their differences (e.g., see Brislin, 2000; Ferraro, 2006a;
Haviland, 2005; Matlin, 2004). As we consider gender differences it is, of course, important to avoid
stereotyping individuals. Nonetheless, the reality of cultural expectations related to sex and gender,
some of which have a basis in the development of the human species, has led to some interesting
research in both professional and popular psychology. As mentioned in Chapter 1, psychology has
often been portrayed as a discipline focusing on White, European males. However, research on the
psychology of women continues to expand, it has begun to address the specific differences of
women of color, and it has led to the establishment of specific men’s studies as well (Matlin,
2004). The latter point is an important one, since the earlier emphasis on White males was more
circumstantial than intentional. For our purposes, I would like us to consider some of the interesting
popular work on male/female differences.
In 1992, John Gray first published a very popular book entitled Men are From Mars, Women are
From Venus. This book openly addresses the different ways in which men and women typically
communicate and express their emotions. He offers practical advice on how men and women
should react, or perhaps not react, to one another in everyday interactions. In his introduction to the
paperback edition, Gray (2004) emphasizes how important it is not to try changing your partner. To
expect members of the opposite sex to become more like yourself sends a message that they are
not good enough as they are. He also notes that not all men or women will fall into the typical
gender roles, so it is important not to stereotype. What is important, according to Gray, is that we
recognize the general differences that exist between men and women and keep them in mind when
we communicate with each other. If we can, then hopefully we can avoid conflicts that need not be
inevitable. It might sound simple, but Gray clearly struck a chord in couples and individuals across
America. He wrote numerous follow-up books, including Mars and Venus on a Date (1997) and the
parenting guide Children are From Heaven (1999), each of which became #1 New York Times
Bestsellers like the original. There is an interesting website (www.marsvenus.com), there are
workshops and counseling centers based on Gray’s work, and workplace seminars based on Mars
and Venus in the Workplace (2002). Clearly, relationship problems based on the differences
between men and women are of great interest to people in our society today. As harshly as Freud
has been criticized for his views on the differences between men and women, he was certainly on to
something. Perhaps that’s part of the reason why even those who criticize Freud continue to talk
about him.
More recently, Norah Vincent (2006) spent 18 months masquerading as a man, and then wrote
about her experiences in Self-Made Man. Ms. Vincent spent a substantial amount of time working
to look and act like a man. She consulted a professional make-up artist (especially to help with her
“beard”), a voice coach, and a personal trainer to help her build muscle mass in her arms and
shoulders. She even went to a sex shop and purchased a prosthetic penis, just to help make sure
that her appearance was as convincing as possible. Using the name Ned, she then traveled around
the country, to five different states, and attempted to pass for a man in a variety of settings. She
played on a men’s bowling team, went to strip clubs with “other” men, spent time in a monastery, got
a job as a salesman, and joined a men’s group. One of the most interesting aspects of her
masquerade involved dating. Curiously, it was not really difficult for her to consider dating women,
because she happens to be a lesbian. But she was not prepared for how often she would be
rejected when trying to meet women! Maybe that’s why she wrote: “It was hard being a guy. Really
hard.” In fact, she found the entire experience quite disturbing. As a woman, she had always been
viewed as very masculine. But when pretending to be a man, she was seen as very
effeminate. She felt that her masculinity was constantly being judged, both by men and
women. And the constant pressure to be a “real man” was overwhelmingly stressful. As she
concluded her book, talking about the camaraderie of the men on the bowling team, she observed
that:
Making this removed comforting contact with men and feeling the relief it gave me as my life as a
man went on was not a sign of having joined the overclass, for whom superiority is assumed and
bucking up unnecessary. It was more like joining a union. It was the counterpart to and the refuge
from my excruciating dates, which were often alienating and grating enough to make me wonder
whether getting men and women together amicably on a permanent basis wasn’t at times like
brokering Middle East peace.
I believe we are that different in agenda, in expression, in outlook, in nature, so much so that I
can’t help almost believing, after having been Ned, that we live in parallel worlds, that there is at
bottom really no such thing as that mystical unifying creature we call a human being, but only male
human beings and female human beings, as separate as sects. (pgs. 281-282; Vincent, 2006)
As an indication of how popular this topic continues to be, shortly after Ms. Vincent published her
book she was interviewed on the popular news/comedy show The Colbert Report on Comedy
Central. I guess it’s important to keep smiling as we struggle through the many challenges of
male/female relationships.
Freud’s perspectives on women have created a great deal of negativity toward him and his
theory, particularly among women. But should we judge Freud so harshly? It was common in the
society in which he lived to consider women as the “weaker sex.” In his practice, most of the
patients he saw were female, so he needed his theory to explain why most of the people with
psychological disorders were women (at least, that’s what he thought). Granted he had made
fundamental errors by not realizing that men might be avoiding help for psychological problems
because of the culture and by not recognizing that women might be suffering from oppression
caused by men, but since there were no other theories to compare his own ideas to, it is easy to
condemn him. However, those theorists who began to address the cultural issues, like Adler and
Horney, had Freud’s theory for comparison. Horney in particular also had a growing body of
research on anthropology and sociology to draw on. So as much as Adler and Horney may have
disagreed with Freud, he still laid the foundation for their work and the work of many others.
Psychoanalysis
Most psychologists today make a distinction that Freud seldom, if ever, made. We refer to all
theoretical perspectives related to the views of Sigmund Freud as psychodynamic theories,
reserving the term psychoanalysis for the therapeutic method developed by Freud. Freud simply
referred to both his theories and his therapy as psychoanalysis. This may well have resulted from
the fact that Freud began as a therapist, and only developed his theories in order to explain why
certain approaches worked and others did not. It may also have something to do with the fact that
Freud’s personality theories came first, and so there was no need in his mind to distinguish his views
from the work of others. Whatever the reason, for our purposes we will use the term psychoanalysis
to refer to the therapeutic method developed by Freud, which was uniquely different from the
techniques already in use by people such as Breuer and Charcot. I would also like to note that
many of the references in this section cite the book co-authored by Freud and Breuer
(1895/2004). However, the citations come from a portion of the book written by Freud alone, and in
which he takes personal credit for the work. Therefore, we need to acknowledge that although the
book is published as the work of both men, it contains mostly each man’s individual work, and only
the “Preliminary Statement” is co-authored by Freud and Breuer. This point is by no means a small
one, because it was at this point in their careers that the two men went their separate ways.
As mentioned above, Freud came to believe that the use of hypnosis, which had been
championed by Breuer and Charcot, was unable to get at the root causes of patient’s neuroses. He
also learned through experience that psychoanalysis could only be effective if he was able to go
back into the early childhood of his patients and uncover the unconscious conflicts and repressions
that led to their neurotic behaviors. In order to accomplish this goal, Freud relied primarily on free
association and dream analysis. In the history of psychoanalysis, there have been those who
believed that psychoanalysis officially began when Freud rejected hypnosis and introduced free
association (Freud, 1914/1995). Free association is often used, of course, during the interpretation
of dreams, so the two techniques are not mutually exclusive. With regard to the value of interpreting
dreams, Freud wrote perhaps his most famous line: “…the interpretation of dreams is the via
regia [royal road] to a knowledge of the unconscious element in our psychic life.” (pg. 508; Freud,
1900/1995).
Free Association - Freud's Therapeutic Breakthrough
Free association grew out of a need that resulted from problems implementing Breuer’s
cathartic method. The first problem was that many patients could not be hypnotized. With the
patients that Freud could not hypnotize, especially those who would not even allow him to try
hypnotizing them, Freud tried a technique of pressing them to remember. This technique also came
up short, and Freud recognized a need to work around the patient’s resistance (which we will
examine in more detail below). The first technique that Freud developed involved pressing his hand
against his patient’s forehead and asking them to say whatever thought, no matter how seemingly
irrelevant, came first into their consciousness (Freud & Breuer, 1895/2004). Freud himself described
this technique as a trick, one that disconnects the patient’s attention from his conscious searching
and reflecting. However, trick or not, Freud found the technique to be indispensable. The thoughts
that came to the forefront of consciousness, those believed to be easily accessible via the
preconscious, were likely to be connected to the underlying associations responsible for the neurotic
patient’s symptoms. Freud used this technique of free association quite successfully. As early as
1892, he treated a patient known as Fräulein Elisabeth von R. by relying entirely on free association
(Freud & Breuer, 1895/2004).
Still, Freud did make some modifications in the technique. Two other methods used to begin
the free association were to have the patient think of a number or a name at random. Of course,
Freud did not believe that it was possible for anything in the mind to occur at random, and by
continuing the association brought up by that first name or number, Freud could help his patient to
arrive at the true unconscious associations that were the root of their problems (Freud,
1917/1966). He also used free association during the interpretation of dreams, and often found it
helpful to examine which part of the dream the patient chose to begin making free associations
(Freud, 1933/1965). Freud also considered psychoanalysis to be effective with children, but
cautioned that a child’s lack of psychological development limited their ability for free
association. Other psychodynamic theorists worked more extensively with children, however,
including Adler, Anna Freud, and Klein.
The Elements of Dream Analysis
For someone who considered dreams to be the royal road to the unconscious mind, it is no
surprise that Freud’s first book of his own was The Interpretation of Dreams (Freud,
1900/1995). The value of this work never diminished, and Freud devoted a chapter to dream
interpretation in one of his last books: An Outline of Psycho-Analysis (Freud, 1938/1949). In the
latter book, published only a year before Freud died, he wrote:
The only thing that can help us are states of conflict and uproar, when the contents of the
unconscious id have a prospect of forcing their way into the ego and into consciousness and the ego
puts itself once more on the defensive against this invasion. …Now, our nightly sleep is precisely a
state of this sort, and for that reason psychical activity during sleep, which we perceive as dreams, is
our most favourable object of study. In that way, too, we avoid the familiar reproach that we base
our constructions of normal mental life on pathological findings; for dreams are regular events in the
life of a normal person… (pg. 38)
Freud described our recollection of a dream as a façade, a covering that hides the underlying
process of the dream. Thus, a dream has both manifest content and latent content. The manifest
content (or the dream-content) of a dream is what we actually remember when we wake up. The
latent content (or the dream-thoughts), however, is the true underlying meaning of the dream, the
unconscious material from the id desiring satisfaction. Freud described the process by which the
latent content is transformed into the manifest content as the dream-work (Freud,
1900/1995). Studying the nature of the dream-work, the way in which the unconscious material from
the id forces its way into the ego but is transformed by the ego’s opposition to the impulse, allows us
to understand what is known as dream-distortion (Freud, 1938/1949). The importance of dreamdistortion becomes clear when w...
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