Psychoanalysis and Personality: The Impact of Sigmund Freud

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Sigmund Freud is one of the most influential psychologists and had a very significant impact in psychoanalysis techniques. Not only was Freud considered the father of psychoanalytic theory, but he also developed the first comprehensive theory of personality (Burger, 2012). Freud was born on May 6, 1856, In Freiberg, Moravia, which is now part of the Czech Republic. Freud’s father was a wool merchant, when his business failed, he was forced to move the family to Leipzig, and then later to Vienna. Freud spend most of his like in Vienna and grew up with a very loving mother and a father he was afraid of. Although Freud did experience feelings of fear toward his father, he felt love toward him as well. On the other hand, Freud’s mother was very …show more content…

He spoke several languages such as German, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, French, English, and a few others. Freud’s intelligence and ambition led to his enrollment in medical school at the University of Vienna. He spent eight years earning his degree because he took so many classes that were not part of his curriculum, such as philosophy. (Schultz & Schultz 2015). Freud worked doing scientific research at an academic laboratory, but left to enter private practice in hopes of earning more money. With his MD, he started his own practice as a clinical neurologist and later proposed to Martha Bernays. They had a four-year engagement because Freud was waiting to be able to afford it. After they finally married in 1886, Freud and his wife started having children and eventually had six. Freud was a busy man and worked long hours, leaving him little time to spend with his family. However, Freud developed a similar relationship to his with his mother with his youngest daughter, Anna Freud. Anna was very special to Freud and followed her father’s footsteps by becoming a psychoanalytic theorist. Freud’s daughter, Anna, had an influential role in the psychoanalytic movement after Sigmund Freud. When Germany invaded Austria in 1938, Frued and his family fled Nazi Persecution and escaped to London. Freud died of cancer a year after arriving in …show more content…

Most doctors at the time treated hysteria as a physical illness, except Breuer and Freud. Freud and Breuer had a patient named “Anna O.” who they used hypnosis to treat. They published their findings in Studies in Hysteria, which talked about hypnosis to treat hysteria. In the case of Anna O., her symptoms were relieved after her hypnosis sessions. After disclosing information about her father’s death during hypnosis, Anna O. was able to feel her arm again and speak, which she wasn’t able to do previously. Freud’s work using hypnosis helped him understand the power of unconscious influences on behavior (Burger

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