Freud's Theories and Concepts

Many people search for "Freud's theory". The wording is strange. Why? Because Freud did not actually have a single theory but many. The fact that we ignore this aspect shows how "familiar" Freud is for today readers!

Of course, there is not enough space to develop the subject and we will limit ourselves to some of the most important Freud's theories.

The theory of neuroses. It explains the cause and formation of this universally spread mind disorder. In general, it is about our early sexual life, more specifically about the repression and fixation during childhood.

Related to the theory of neuroses, we must point to Freud's sexual theory developed in his famous book: Three essays on sexuality, the child's conception about birth - the cloacal theory - and the stages of psychosexual development, wrongly called the theory of personality development.

Other equally important theories:

Defense mechanisms. That is, how the ego opposes the instinctive immoral urges (motions) to prevent their fulfillment and the development of anxiety.

Dream theory - the dream is, according to Freud, the disguised realization of a repressed desire. Its function: protecting sleep. How the dream is constituted (dream work) and what is the importance of its interpretation in the psychoanalytic cure are aspects described and developed by Freud.

The theory about the structure of the psychic apparatus, which involves two topics: the first one - conscious, preconscious, unconscious; the second: id, ego, superego.

The two principles that govern psychic life: the pleasure and reality principles.

The theory about the unconscious . The unconscious, repression and the repressed are often cited as Freud's main discoveries that practically radically changed the common and medical view of human psychic life, as static and limited exclusively to consciousness.

Freud adds the depth dimension of the individual psyche and explains its function in the emergence of mind disorders.

Sensing the unconscious in which the interpretation of dreams is the main test to which, in Freud's time, the future psychoanalyst was subjected.

Unfortunately, today the mastery of this skill is no longer pursued, when psychoanalysis is either rejected for various reasons, or insufficiently studied to be limited to a simple puzzle game, based on the playful use of a hermetic vocabulary. And that's about it.

The mechanisms that govern unconscious psychic activity, the psychic dynamics, the methods of accessing the unconscious are all theories developed by Freud following his clinical activity.

And last but not least, the theory about transference, about its role in psychoanalytic therapy and the Oedipus complex - which is, according to Freud, the core of neuroses.

In conclusion, Freud wrote a great deal and covered practically everything that can be the object of the scientific study of the mind. He created a real psychoanalytic vocabulary that brings elements and explanations never seen before.

Finally, the clinical and theoretical approaches of Freud's psychoanalysis led to the emergence of a psychoanalytic science which can be applied practically to all the activities of human mind (not related to mind disorders), in the cultural, religious, social and political spheres.

See also:

• More about dreams here and here (with examples)
  
  Dictionary of terms in psychoanalysis
   
• Freud's quotes on his basic terms and concepts

Home | Resources | Forum | Newsletter | Contact

Copyright 1999-2023, AROPA. All rights reserved.