Was Freud a Crazy Theoretician or a Genius - Case Study Example

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction to Psychoanalysis………………………………………………………………… Psychoanalysis Overview………………………………………………………………………. Sigmund Freud (1856—1939)………………………………………………………………… Other theoreticians who continued Freud’s studies……………………………………… The criticism faced by Freud for his theories…………………………………………… Evaluating the Strengths of Psychoanalysis……………………………….………………...… Psychodynamic therapies in the light of practical case study………………………………… Psychodynamic practices in Past and Present…………………………………………..…… Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………… Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………… Abstract Writing this paper was the most challenging, yet time taking task as this is the first (virtually “free-style”) essay that I have ever written. As the subject of ‘psychoanalysis’ itself is a really complex subject, so I will be focusing on the theoretical essences and themes to write this paper. Also, by providing simple examples from the experience of experiential triads practice; I will put my efforts to explicate my understanding. This paper will summarize the theory of psychoanalysis, beginning with Freud's groundbreaking contributions on the subject and their worth in the current era. I will break this paper down into various parts including the history of psychoanalysis, its practicing changes, implementing and gaining the effects, the criticism faced by Freud, how it’s looked up from the psychoanalytical point of view of clients, culture, society and politics. Most importantly, I will cover the facts and figures about the criticism Freud faced about his psychodynamic theories. There have been huge oppositions who denied his ideas and called his theories ‘ridiculous’ and ‘unreal’ but was he really a crazy theoretician, or a mastermind? I’ll summarize that succinctly and all the contents of this paper in the conclusion part. Introduction to Psychoanalysis: Psychoanalysis s is the systematic study and theory of the psychological forces that underline human behaviour, emphasizing the interplay between unconscious and conscious motivation. The basic theory or psychoanalytic concept was developed by Sigmund Freud, who explained that the psychological processes are the flows of “psychological energies”. Psychoanalysis is based on the theory of inner conflicts which give the outcomes in different behaviour or emotions. Generally, they are the conflicts of the unconscious. Psychoanalysis Overview: Psychoanalytic theory has been derived from psychoanalysis - clinical work of Sigmund Freud. As Freud explicated, Psychoanalysis is the study of the interrelationships of diverse parts of the personality including ideas about psychosexual development. He used the well known method of free association as the method of accessing the unconscious and recall, and the therapeutic techniques of interpretations, therefore discovering the defense mechanisms during his clinical practice. There is a vast study of mental and psychological malfunctions that psychodynamic studies take in: generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, depression and psychosis, etc. Furthermore, psychodynamic psychotherapy is classically indicated in the treatment of unresolved complexities that occur in early life; however there is a deficiency of persuasive evidence relating to its superiority compared to other forms of treatment. This is the same reason why Freud has always been in the target of criticism, despite of the fact that a high number of psycho analytics consider his theories ‘legendary’. Sigmund Freud (1856—1939) Sigmund Freud was an Australian neurologist who born on 6 may 1856. He was the founder of psychoanalytic school and highly known for his theories of ‘defense mechanism’, ‘unconscious mind of repression’ and Transference/Counter Transference. Also he was the one who brought the clinical psychoanalytical practice for treating ‘psychopathology’ through the dialogue between a psychoanalyst and a patient. Freud explicated sexual desires as the main motivational energy of the human life. Freud brought some very effective therapeutic techniques and interpreted dreams as sources of insight into unconscious desires. His techniques such as ‘free association’ brought forward the theory of ‘transference’ in the therapeutic relationship. Freud has been influential in two linked ways as he led us to a theory of internal operations of human behavior and how the psyche is organized. In his philosophical writing Freud explained that a personality is developed by a person’s childhood experiences. In the early 1890s, Freud utilized a revolutionary technique of treatment which was based on what Breuer had described him, altered by what he called ‘pressure technique’ along with his newly raised analytic interpretation and reconstruction techniques. Later, as a result of Freud’s practices most of his patients reported early age sexual abuse. First he believed these reports but later on he came to a conclusion that they were the fantasies of those patients. He explicated these at first as having the function of ‘fending off’ the memories of infantile masturbation, however in later years he noted down that they represented the ‘Oedipal fantasies’. Freud hoped to prove that his theoretical model was universally convincing and hence turned to contemporary ethnography and ancient mythology for comparative material. He called his theory Oedipus complex’ after the well famed Sophocles’ ‘Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex’. Freud once stated; “I found myself a constant love for my mother, and jealousy of my father. I now consider this to be a universal event in childhood.” As I see his theory of ‘infantile sexuality, it should be seen as a constitutional part of a much wider developmental idea of human personality. The theory of ‘infantile sexuality’ had its origins in Breuer’s earlier discovery that stated that traumatic childhood consequences can have very negative results on an adult individual, and can take the shape of the general thesis that infancy sexual experiences were the essential factors in the discovering of the adult personality. As a mother, I am experiencing the ‘infantile sexuality’ examples along with some other instances in my kids as they are growing up. This has helped me in understanding and believing Freud’s theories in a much better way which I couldn’t if I wasn’t a mother. This is one of the reasons why I chose the topic; “was Freud a crazy theoretician or a genius? Along with the past & present of psychodynamic practices”. Other theoreticians who continued Freud’s studies: I don’t Consider Freud a legend without a strong reason; there were immense significant elements that were involved in Freud’s ideas and theories. For these very elements, other theoreticians/ psychoanalysts decided to study his findings and to continue them. Melanie Klein, Ronald Fairbairn and Donald Winnicott are three of them. Below I will put a brief spotlight on all three of them and on how they all connected to each other’s theories and techniques which eventually get connected to Freud’s theories: I. D. W. Winnicott: Donald Woods Winnicott was born in 1896. He entered into a personal analysis with James Strachey, who was Freud's English translator and In 1927 Winnicott started training under the British Psycho-Analytical Society. D.W. Winnicott then qualified as an ‘adult analyst’ in 1934 and then as a ‘child analyst’ in 1935. He once stated that at the time when he was practicing psychotherapies, no other analyst was a pediatrician. Furthermore he stated that he was the only psychoanalyst who served for the psychoanalytic field for two or three decades and was an ‘isolated phenomenon’. With the outcomes he gained from the treatment of psychically disquieted children and their mothers he later built his original theories. Every step that he took in the practices of psychoanalysis in each case; he was led to the development of his eminent "therapeutic consultations." Winnicott carried his studies further with Joan Rivière and Melanie Klein. The believers of Melanie Klein were, and are called Kleinians and they were the ones who believed in the paramount importance for psychic health of the first year of a child's life. Thus, Winnicott and Melanie Klein shared this same idea and applied in on there coming treatments and techniques. D.W. Winnicott died due to a series of heart attacks in 1971 and was cremated in British capital. II. Melanie Klein: Melanie Klein, who was born on 1882, started off her profession with the inspiration of Freud and his theories. However, she very soon reached at her own developed approach. In this process she was opposed by Anna Freud, who was the daughter of Freud and the one who split the British psychoanalytical society into separate camps. Melanie Klein preferred her ‘play technique’ on Freud’s ‘free association’ and started observing children at play utilizing different toys. Despite of the fact that she switched Freud’s theory with hers, the forefront for Klein was still the fundamental interaction of the unconscious feelings -- which was background for Freud, who expended scientific and metaphoric explanations to a greater extent. III. Ronald Fairbairn: William Ronald Dodds Fairbairn was born on august 11, 1889. He was a British psychoanalyst who moved from a biological model to a psychological one. In that model he stated that early unitary ego is genetically shifted towards ‘object relations’. Further he stated, Energy is inseparable from structure in the model and ‘drive’ is seen as the struggle for individuation, integration and recognition within a human environment. He also came up with a theory of psychopathology’ that basis on real environment failure in which a baby interiorizes and distinguishes with the bad aspects of its parents and then suppresses the relationships conjointly fantasy, memory and attached effect. Fairbairn is one the most important founders of the ‘object-relations’ whose work has been prestigious not only in U.K but all over the world. Particularly, his work impressed the self psychologists, attachment and inter-subjective theorists and most importantly the members of British Independent Group. Without a doubt, Fairbairn continued Freud’s legacy by adding new ideas and helpful techniques to it which are now hold a very important part in the field of psychoanalytic therapies even after a half century later in a time when science and technology has elevated to a very high level. In the present day, psychotherapists consider Fairbairn’s theories and findings an appropriately profound influence on the general spectrum of psychoanalytic thinking. Psychodynamic Therapies: Psychoanalysis is based upon the concept that individuals are not aware of the many elements that cause their behaviour and emotions. These factors have the potential to give rise to psychological disturbances, which in turn are verbalized through a number of clear symptoms, including difficulty in relating to others, disturbing personality attributes, or self-esteem or general disposition. Psychoanalytic treatment is majorly individualized and looks to demonstrate how the unconscious factors impact the relationships, behaviour patterns and on the whole mental health. Furthermore; psychotherapy is a method of understanding mental executions and the stages of growth and development. Psychoanalysis is a general theory of individual human behaviour and experience, and it has both contributed to and been enriched by many other disciplines. Psychotherapy works on the complex relationship between the body and mind. Also it takes in the understanding of the role of feelings in medical illness and health. There has been a high volume of criticism that these psychoanalytical theories faced and the importance of psychoanalysis as a theory and treatment has been questioned since its arrival. Critics have been arguing about many aspects of psychoanalysis including whether or not it is a science? Especially the importance of the data upon which the founder of psychoanalysis (Freud) established his theories and the method and affectivity of psychoanalytical handling was highly questioned. However it’s not that the psychodynamic theories have only faced negative responses but they has got a lot of praise form the masses who have been concerned to the related fields over the years. Take the ‘play technique’ as an example which is the substitute of Freud’s ‘free association’. This ‘play technique is now used on a global scale and patients are getting cured on a high number. Conversely, as I take a wise look at both feedbacks of critics, I consider psychoanalysis a "great idea" and it was not ‘ridiculous’, which was stated by many people. There are different therapy techniques involved with psychoanalysis. Freudian ground breaking techniques are; the slips of the tongue, free Association, interpretation of dreams and transference with its resistance as a defense mechanism. At the other hand; Melanie Klein, used non-mechanical play materials such as toys, sand etc to make the young patients express their feelings in the therapeutic sessions. Melanie Klein showed that the way children played with the toys revealed their earlier infantile fantasies and disquiets. Furthermore; she showed how these disquiets can affect a child’s ego and sexuality to bring mental and emotional disorders. Through the methods that she used, she relieved the children from their guilt as they directed towards her and the oedipal and aggressive feelings which they could not express to their parents in any way. However, this was against the belief of Freud’s daughter ‘Anna Freud’ who believed that children aren’t analyzable (Grosskurth, 1986). The criticism faced by Freud for his theories: Many people criticized Freud in a high extent and named his theories as ridiculous. I feel that he was fixated on the very Oedipus Conflict because of his intense research, especially of sexuality, sexual desires and perversion. Also, I feel that he adopted Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution where reproductive instinct of animals was named Sex Drive or Libido, and that aggression was merely connected with species survival. Last but the most criticized point that was put on Freud was that he mainly focused on the ‘Oedipus Stage’ ignoring the infantile oral stage, which was the focus of Melanie Klein that she used in her therapies. Unfortunately, because of some sources that covered Freud and his theories and told the entire research as ‘misleading’, many people totally ignored the good points that Freud presented and which are now helping patients in getting cured as the central therapeutic techniques. There’s no shadow of a doubt that without Freud we would never be able to learn the concept of the unconscious mind, as his clinical studies were a starting point of modern research into the psychological and emotional human development. Though I’m not saying that everything that Freud said or presented was factual or legendary as some parts of his theories were, and are ‘off’ but then looking at their age that indefinitely to be carried? The point is not to overlook Freud then but to read his theories and ideas so we can see how they can help us to understand ourselves. Freud was a psychologist who formed and forwarded the initial ideas of psychoanalysis. His theories were based on the ideas that humans have unconscious longings which must be examined to understand the behaviour. Talking about criticism to Freud’s theories, they have been criticized by each and every possibly imagined angle including the point that Freud overstressed ‘sex’ and the way he presented the oral, anal and Oedipus complex stage people took him wrong and considered him a Sexist. These literary criticisms are in a large extent that came into sight as a result of misleading the context, which as I believe were due to being “lost in translation”. For instance, the word ‘sexual’ should have meant “sensual” and so on. As I see it, Freud’s psychodynamic model is just ‘a model’; Just like an economic or social model or any other. Thus, according to my instincts and study, Freud was criticized unfairly. Evaluating the Strengths of Psychoanalysis: With the intention of evaluating the strengths of Freud's psychoanalytical theory, we must consider the positive characteristics that make a theory of personality or behaviour ‘great’. To do so, we have to involve ourselves in the study of all those successful cases that are the conclusion of psychoanalytic therapies. As mentioned earlier, Freud came up with the term "psychoanalysis" in 1856 and Even today, when we have stepped in the twenty-first century, psychoanalysis remains as a valid option for patients suffering from mental illnesses. The debate that was Freud a crazy man who came up with useless theories or there was at some extent greatness involved in his ideas, here it is important to mention that the acceptance and popularity of psychoanalysis is really vivid in this age. We can see it through the existence of numerous organizations, institutes, and conferences which are established all around the world focusing the techniques of psychoanalysis to cure countless patients. If Freud’s theories were ridiculous they wouldn’t be as much utilized and liked the way they are. Psychodynamic therapies in the light of practical case study: Now, I would like to present a case study which I gathered last year while I, with two of the other students of our group volunteered to practically understand the therapeutic details from basics to the most detailed ones. I regret that I couldn’t get much of time to spend on that practice as I was a part of a 3 student group who was assigned on the case study. However, I definitely understood a lot of things that are applied by a psychotherapist on a patient just according to Freud explained in his studies. The reason for me to add this case study to this report is that it also explains my practical experience on working with a client of the current times. This case tells us how a patient reacts or works with a psychotherapist when he/she is affected by the surrounding people including the social circles and working environments. This study also tells about the mother-child relationship which if fails to build up, the child’s entire life can be haunted. Furthermore; from this study you will learn why or in which circumstances a person falls in a mental or psychological state where he/she needs some serious psychoanalytical treatments to get back to a normal life. My patient/subject was a survivor of World War 2. She experienced the time of world war which was one of the most difficult times for everyone who experienced it. She was only five years old when her mother sent her to her aunts from London to Scotland. There, she took admission in art school and when after sometime she got back to London after the war her life came back to normality. However, it was a turning point. Her father left her mother for another woman and left the country which caused the little girl to never see his father again. She continued her art lessons and worked at an art shop and got refined in the field. She got married with a man she met in that very art shop. However, for some unexplainable reasons her marriage didn’t last long. In fact she got married twice after that but none of her 3 marriages worked. She got three children, each from all three of her husbands, but due to her art career she had to leave the children under her own mother’s shadow. Now the time came when her paintings started selling really well and she started a better life. However, due to her ‘upper class social life’ maintaining efforts she first got into smoking and then in heavy drugs which led her to terrible outcomes. After 10-15 years her Intensive drug obsessed life style brought her to a scenario where she became a permanent part of an electric chair and dependant on her daughter who was looking after her. All of these 10-15 years she neglected her kids so bad that as they grew up they finally decided to move abroad. All of these instances destroyed the patient mentally and physically and brought her under psychoanalytic treatment sessions where I was assigned to give her company, take her out for meals and walks in the parks to motivate her and encourage her to take her medicine on time to get better soon. In this practice I was not using any particular psychoanalytic theory as I was not mainly assigned on her therapy so therapeutic skills were used to a limited degree. Also, I was not concentrating on the patient’s activity records for the reason that it’s wrong to set a patient tasks e.g. collecting his memories or thinking over some particular time period of his life. Also, taking notes during the sessions with the patients is only considered when intending to gather the notes for publishing a scientific study of the case (Freud S (1912) Recommendations to physicians practicing psycho-analysis. P Gay (ed) The Freud Reader: pages 358, 362). Lastly, I was uncertain about the conditions I will experience in the patient for the reason that we can’t make sure at what extent the patient’s intellectual co-operation will be seen, here the personality of the patient is the determining factor. However, during the entire time period that I spent with her, I focused on the ‘idealizing transference’ for the reason that it is the ‘idealizing transference’ that reflects a pole in which an individual experiences the other person, (specially a psychotherapist) as ‘perfect’. Thus it vicariously strengthens the patient’s defective self-esteem. An extent of idealization and symbiosis is a normal part of a patient- therapist relation, especially if the patient finds difficulty in sustaining good idealization of parents and if all of his Gods turn out to have feet of clay. (Reference here) thus its really important for a therapist to maintain a relation gap with the patient so that the patient feels that the therapist is special and would help him in getting to a normal or better life. (Bateman A and Holmes J (1995) Introduction to Psychoanalysis. London: Routledge. Chapter 4: Self-object transference: page 106) Now, after the therapeutic sessions, that lady is a lot better and has quit smoking and drugs which I consider the success of Freud’s studies. The above case example also tells an example about the mother-infant detachment as the patient was detached from her mother in the early age and sent to an another state she also unconsciously detached herself from her own children. Hence, it is so apparent that without the theories and techniques that Freud brought in sight, it was not possible to help this lady out as she was really miserable when I met her first. Furthermore, psycho analytics such as Melanie Klein and Ronald Fairbairn added new techniques to Freud’s study which enhanced the positive outcomes even more. Psychodynamic practices in Past and Present: In the past, psychodynamic practices were mainly surrounding the experiments and innovations as the psychoanalysts of that time were still discovering the core facts and figures of it. However, now the psychodynamic theories have been practiced for so many years that we have seen countless cases of different natures that give us the vivid view of this immense field of excellence. In the present point of time, psychoanalysis is an evolving ‘multi-disciplinary’ area of psychodynamic study that examines the human thought process, response patterns and influences. Psychoanalysis has been a very controversial subject and was initially developed as an intensive, long-term therapy. When we discourse the political state related to the psychoanalysis, I must state a well known fact that intensive psychotherapy is too expensive for working class, however, the government does play a significant role to make it better. For as much efforts as the higher authorities put in order to facilitate the masses, specially the middle and the lower class, now various short-term or brief therapies have come to sight and are available. E.g. a number of charitable trusts and foundations and/or through the low prices of trainee counselors. Furthermore, the intensive psychotherapy can even be attained absolutely free on NHS in a case where the patient is in prison or released with reduced sentence if agreed to therapy; and in the outpatient clinics where previous psychological diagnosis has been established. Conclusion: By far Psychoanalysis has been one of the greatest strengths for being a very comprehensive theory. Originally, psychoanalysis intended as a theory to explicate therapeutic or psychological concepts that explains the nature of human development and its mental functioning aspects. There are differences in therapeutic technique between open-ended and time-limited therapies. French (1952) in Coren A 2001. Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) is basically a form that works on the goal to help the patients in overcoming their internal resistance and make them re gain their true feelings about their past which has been forfended because either it is too painful or frightening. At the other hand, long term psychotherapy lasts for at least 1 year and yet considered a more effective technique than the short term. It targets a patient’s complex mental disorders such as chronic or personality disorders. Thus, I find Freud a mastermind who brought his psychodynamic theories to our sight that eventually became a life savoir to countless people who suffer from every psychological disorder that is related to the stress, grief, dejection, trauma and more. He put a light on the subjects no other theoretician managed to cover and despite of the risk of rejection or negative response he spoke about the most controversial matters that changed the entire face of the psychoanalysis sphere. Freud is the reason why I and other countless students took interest in the complex subject of psychodynamics and decided to study and practice it. Consequently, Psychodynamics gave birth to the great techniques of psychotherapies which are, and will help the mankind for the many upcoming eras. Bibliography Freud S (1912). Recommendation to physicians practicing psycho-analysis. The Freud Reader. Ed. P Gay: pp 356-63. Winnicott D W (1990) The Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment. London: Karnac. Chapter 3 ‘The theory of the parent-infant relationship'. Lomas P (1987) The Limits of Interpretation: What's Wrong with Psychoanalysis? London: Penguin: pp 94-111. Chapter 9 'The misuse of therapeutic power. Coren A (2001) Short-term Psychotherapy: A Psycho-dynamic Approach. London. Ed. Palgrave MacMillan: pp 138-61. Fairbairn R (1994) Synopsis of an object-relations theory of the personality. Int Journal of Psychoanalysis: pp 224-225. Rycroft C (1985a) Psychoanalysis and beyond. Psychoanalysis and Beyond, London: Chatto Tigerstripe: pp 119-27 Rycroft C (1985c) What analysts say to their patients. Psychoanalysis and Beyond. London:Chatto Tigerstripe:pp 58-63 Andreou C (1999) Some intercultural issues in the therapeutic process.M Layado and A Horne (eds) The Handbook of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy London: Routledge: pp 73-9 Freud S (1915). The Unconscious. P Gay Ed. The Freud Reader: pp 572-84. Freud S (1915) Repression. P Gay. Ed. The Freud Reader: pp 568-72. Bateman A and Holmes J (1995) Introduction to Psychoanalysis. London: Routledge. Chapter 4 Mechanisms of defense: pp76-94. Read More