Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud an Austrian physician, was the founder of psychoanalytic school. He specialized in the disorders of the nervous system. He observed that some of his patients had nothing physically wrong with them, even though they had symptoms of physical illness (headaches, exhaustion, insomnia and so forth). He suspected that mental conflicts lay behind these symptoms—conflicts that had been pushed out of normal awareness and into a part of mind called unconscious. He believed that if unconscious conflicts could be bought into patient’s consciousness, they would lose their power to control the patient’s life. He used psychoanalytic technique to uncover unconscious conflicts of his patients. Freud helped his patients to interpret and understand their mental problem. He called his approach to treatment as psychoanalysis.

Freud believed that early past experiences of which a person is unaware significantly influence his current behavior. He treated people with psychological problems. He wrote on many topics, including personality, development, human sexuality, therapy techniques and adjustments.

Psychoanalytic theory had its deep impact on concept of personality and therapy techniques in psychology. It helped broaden the behaviorist notion of psychology to include unconscious motivation as well as behavior. Freud defined psychology as the study of unconscious motives.

Criticism:

Since psychoanalytic theory is not scientific, it has been criticized by a number of psychologists. Freud laid strong emphasis on sex and aggression but did not fully explain consciousness and human behavior.

Although many of the basic principles of psychodynamic thinking have been criticized, the perspective that has grown out of Freud’s work has provided a means not only for treating mental disorders but also for understanding everyday phenomena such as prejudice and aggression.

Today several major approaches or models have evolved from the roots of structuralism, functionalism, and Gestalt psychology, each of them emphasizing different aspects of behavior. These include the biological, psychodynamic, cognitive, behavior and humanistic approaches or models.