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06-22-2011, 08:21 AM

I am reading 3 books right now:

Psychoanalytic Psychology: The Development of Freud's Thought by Raymond Fancher

FREUD Biologist of the Mind: Beyond the Psychoanalytic Legend by Frank Sulloway

The Origins of Psycho-Analysis: Letters to Wilhelm Fliess, Drafts & Notes 1887-1902 by Sigmund Freud

Many people don't like Freud. But I love him because many of the techniques I use in my stage shows are directly derived from his works. Gotta Love that Freud!!

Rawr · 06-22-2011, 04:32 PM

KnightShade Wrote:Many people don't like Freud.

Yea, I fit this catergory. Lets review something I learned.

Boy has nighmare about giraffes
Father takes boy to see freud.
Freud comes to the conclusion that the boy is afraid of his father penis
and the griaffe is just a symbol of his father penis.

Wait what? how the hell did he come up with that conclusion?

Boys want there mothers
Girls want there fathers, and are envious of not having a penis.

I know some thing do prove his work right... but he's one creepy man.

06-22-2011, 05:41 PM

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Freud's work was pretty much discredited.

If you could use his work, then good for you.

06-22-2011, 05:42 PM

LOL!! Thats' funny, Rawr. But, yeah, he is one creepy man. His conclusions were off but his theories about resistance were incredible. Plus, he had a problem with hypnosis. He had trouble doing it because he thought an authoritative approach to it would work on everybody. We now know that some people need a permissive approach to be hypnotized. So, yeah, his work needed a little more work. He was on the right track, but got off at the wrong station. LOL!!

06-25-2011, 09:37 PM

As much as everyone loves to hate Freud, psychology owes a lot to him. He was basically the first guy to come up with a systematic attempt at a scientific understanding of the mind and human behavior. Modern psychodynamic psychologists, although they reject much of what Freud said about sex, still accept Freud's fundamental set of assumptions that a) much of who we are is developed extremely early in life based on childhood experiences and our relationship with our parents, and b) much of what we do is the result of unconscious processes in our minds that we're not even aware of unless we're taught to recognize them.
I appreciate Freud not so much for what he literally said and believed, but more for the foundation he laid for later theorists and therapists to adapt and build upon.

06-25-2011, 09:40 PM

I couldn't have said it better myself, CaliGuy! I love a man who has the mind on his heart. Great minds think alike. Smile

06-26-2011, 12:08 AM

I disagree that Freud was the first to attempt a scientific understanding of the mind. There were several psychologist doing that when Freud was just a child, William James over at Harvard University probably being the most notable. There were simultaneous movements towards a materialistic understanding of the mind in France, England and Germany. What Freud pioneered was psychoanalysis, a discipline that is still largely pseudoscientific babble.

06-26-2011, 02:19 AM

OrphanPip Wrote:I disagree that Freud was the first to attempt a scientific understanding of the mind. There were several psychologist doing that when Freud was just a child, William James over at Harvard University probably being the most notable. There were simultaneous movements towards a materialistic understanding of the mind in France, England and Germany. What Freud pioneered was psychoanalysis, a discipline that is still largely pseudoscientific babble.

Technically you are right, I should have said "one of the first." I think it would be fair to say, though, that Freud was the first to devise a theory of mind as COMPLEX as Freud's, and the first to devise a system of psychotherapy that he attempted to make systematic and scientific (though his later detractors would point out later how thoroughly unscientific parts of it were), though there may have been some primitive precursors. Again, Freud should be remembered not just for his literal teachings, but for the concepts he helped pioneer, eg there is something wrong with your mind that can be FIXED in a way that's systemtic and rational. That's a profound thought in and of itself.

06-26-2011, 02:30 AM

Hate Freud because of how as a Fine Art student back in uni I was lectured on him, sorry he has just pissed me off too much lol!!!

06-26-2011, 05:29 AM

Freud has historical significance. But his theory doesn't contribute anything to modern psychology. Free association is one valid technique, but psychodynamic theory isn't the only school of thought that uses it. I view Freud to modern psychology as the four humors theory to modern medicine.

Not to say his ideas aren't interesting. I find his dream interpretation pretty fascinating. I remember reading a few days ago his conjecture about homophobic men having homosexual desires. It turns out this was confirmed by the University of Kansas if I recall correctly.