Evaluation of The Psychoanalytic Approach

Evaluation of The Psychoanalytic Approach

Sigmund Freud the founder of psychoanalysis (1896-1939) worked on

many ideas and cases that were to do with the mind and the body. Freud

spent most of his life in Vienna where he expressed and distinguished

the concepts of the unconscious, infantile sexuality and repression.

Freud identified psychosexual stages, which are: -

Oral stage – (approx 0-2 years) During the first year of life the

libido is gratified through stimulation of the mucous membrane of the

mouth (breast feeding, sucking behaviour). The child will enjoy

sucking and biting.

Freud suggested that if a child is weaned too early or too late they

can have a fixation by using sucking sensations. Freud though did not

give any indication when the correct time is to wean a child in order

to overcome these fixations. He did though suggest that the fixations

could be apparent in later life in the form of pen sucking or biting

of the nail and smoking, as they are all types of oral

stimulation/activities. Freud also said that too little stimulation in

this early age could lead to the child in adult life having uncaring,

self-centred attitude. And the other way with too much stimulation can

lead to self controlled, gullible and unrealistic goals. These are

both long lasting affects in later life if this stage is not correctly

overcome.

Anal stage – (approx 2-4 years) Pleasure is focused on the passing or

excreaton of faces. On this stage Freud said that if parents were too

pushy and strict with toilet training then the child may become anally

retentive – resulting in excessive tiredness and cleanliness and very

self contr...

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...success, it

has very much failed in the eyes of most of today's critics.

Carl Jung (1875-1961) did not agree with Freud in the distinction

between manifest and latent content as to Jung dreams had no

deliberate disguised meaning but directly reflected the minds current

state. A major difference therefore was that where Freud emphasised

the dark and destructive nature of the unconscious Jung was influenced

on the positive and constructive nature of these influences.

Sigmund Freud has had a huge impact on psychoanalytic techniques and

most of them are still used today i.e. dream analysis and the talking

technique. Without Freud’s ideas and findings maybe the world of

psychoanalysis would not be where it is today as many theorists have

used Freud techniques’ as a base for their own modifications and

contributions.