Psychoanalysis

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the history of psychoanalysis begins and most probably ends with Sigmund Freud and a handful of psychologists who discussed the system threadbare in the last century. It looks at how even though the system of analysis has been criticized on many counts, and much of it was claimed to be what we may say as 'sensationalism', the theory of the unconscious, the ego and the psychology of Freud has stood the test of time.

Outline:
Introduction
The Impact of His Antecedents on Psychoanalysis
Documents and Contributions
The Beginning and Progress of Psychoanalysis
Mystery of the Missing Disease
Breuer's Contributions
Questioning the Veracity of the History
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Freud's important contributions and theories that made up the basic tenets of psychoanalysis were during the two years - between 1894 and 1896. It was during this period that the attempt was made at compiling an etiological inquiry into the aspects of psychoses, neuroses, psychiatry and neuropathology. This was the beginning when he built upon the works of the earlier analysts like Mobius and developing the theory of sexual aetiology of the neuroses. We may say that these years marked a deviation from the normal pattern of thought. (May, 1999) The evidence of the progress of the works of Freud can be found in the letters he wrote to Wilhelm Fliess, which constitute the documents available for the analysis of the history of psychoanalysis. The letters range a period from 1887 to 1904, which includes the time of the creation of the theory and its development by other researchers too. These correspondences reveal the thought process of the person who created a virtually new field of human knowledge. (Masson, 1985)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bakan, David. (1958) "Sigmund Freud and the Jewish Mystical Tradition" D. Van Nostrand: Princeton, NJ.
• Bocock, Robert. (2002) "Sigmund Freud" Routledge: New York.
• Esterson, Allen. (2003) "Psychoanalytic Mythology" Retrieved 26 March, 2008 from http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=10
• Fancher, Raymond E. (1998a) "Commentary on the Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis." http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Freud/Origin/commentary.htm
• Fancher, Raymond E. (1998b) "Introduction to the Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis." http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Freud/Origin/intro.htm

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