The Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis - Term Paper Example

The Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis s The Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis Psychology has been an academic discipline that has evolved through ages. It has involved some of the world’s famous scholars like Erik Erikson and Sigmund Freud, whose ideas have been used in solving many crises in the worldwide (Hergenhahn, 2005). It involves the scientific study of the behaviour and the mental functions of human beings. The goals of psychology are immediate and aim at understanding the individual as well as group through establishing both general and specific principles for the benefit of the society (Valsiner, 2012). Psychology has undergone through various milestones throughout its development. Psychologists exist in the following dimensions; social, cognitive or behavioural scientists (Hergenhahn, 2005). They attempt to get enough knowledge of the role that is played by the mental function in an individual and the social behaviour as they explore the physiological and the biological processes that trigger the cognitive functions and behaviours. Psychologists study concepts like cognition, perception, emotion, intelligence, motivation, attention, personality, interpersonal relationships, and behaviour. Psychology study in the context of philosophical is dated back to the ancient era of civilization that occurred in Egypt, India, Greece, Persia and China (Hergenhahn, 2005). Historians have cited that renowned Greek philosophers like Aristotle, Plato and Thales begun studying the mind and writing about them as from the 4th century BC. For example, Hippocrates, a Greek physician, was able theorize that mental disorders were not divine or by nature as presumed, but were rather physical. Theories of scholars orchestrated the evolution of Psychology. The scholars were in an attempt to explain the working of the mind and explain the behaviours exhibited by human beings. They developed various theories that supported their line of thoughts. Some of these theories were debatable and controversial (Hergenhahn, 2005). Therefore, other scholars would come up with opposing ideas leading to vast theories of psychology that try to explain the mind and human behaviour scientifically. Historical Context Psychoanalysis was developed by Sigmund Freud, an Australian psychologist (Freud, 1910). The Origin and development of Psychoanalysis, which is also referred to as the "Sigmund Freud Five Lectures on Psychoanalysis" occurred at Clark University, Massachusetts where he had been invited to deliver his views on abnormal psychology. Freud received the invitation from Hall, a renowned author and researcher in the American Psychology. Freud was to give his lectures in the conference that was meant to celebrate the Clarks 20th anniversary. The presence of Freud would attract many attendants including professors and students of psychiatry and psychology (Fancher, 1998). Freud was happy to receive an invitation from the builder of The American Journal of Psychology. He had been developing a psychological theory and treatment procedure, which he referred to as psychoanalysis. He had several publications in German Language, but they had not taken off as he had hoped until in 1900 when he published The Interpretation of Dreams that attracted a small European following. Scholars from the University of Vienna met regularly at his home to discuss his work, and in April, 1908, the group organized the "First International Congress of Psychoanalysis" in Salzburg, Austria. Although this was small, all the psychoanalysis writing was only in German and its reputation was confined to Europe. In other places of the world, especially America, word spread about Sigmund Freud as a promoter of a controversial theory that accentuated the sexuality. On his acceptance of the invitation, he was to be awarded an honorary degree. Although he was nervous about the reception of his work in the American culture, he viewed the request as an opportunity to present the psychoanalysis theory to a new group of psychologists. He delivered his lectures on Sept. 7 to 11th. Although the talks were given in German and without a written text, they were a great success since his audience was multilingual, and he incorporated his skill as an excellent speaker and lecturer. His lectures received a wider press coverage compared to the other speakers. After the lectures and Freud had returned to Vienna, Hall wrote to Freud requesting him to print the texts, and then he would have them translated and published in the American Journal of Psychology. Freud agreed, and then he began sending the lectures one by one, to which Hall forwarded them to his student Harry Chase for translation into English. They were published in the as the" Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis" in the April issue of the journal. Although in the years that followed, Hall began to endorse Alfred Adlers "Individual Psychology", Freud and psychoanalysis had already gained popularity in America as well as in Europe (Evans & Koelsch, 1985). Bibliography Freud was born in 1856 in Freiburg, AustroHungary Empire. In 1860, his family relocated to Vienna where he lived until his death (Fancher, 1998). While, in secondary school, he was interested in history and psychology but towards his final year, he developed interest in science which led to his admission to the University of Vienna in 1873 to pursue medicine. He got involved in the act of psychology that was promoted by Franz Brentino, a philosophy professor between 1838 and 1971. He also developed interest in Mechanist physiology that was supported by Ernst Complex, a teacher physiology. He graduated as a medicine doctor from the University of Vienna in the year 1881, after which he did research in aphasia, cerebral palsy and neuroanatomy in the same University. He worked under Complex for six years publishing papers in neuroanatomy and then decided to practice medicine. He began working under Theodore Meynert, a brain anatomist, and became an expert in brain disorder diagnosis. He then won a fellowship to study and specialize in this field in Paris where he met Jean Charcot, a French neurologist. Charcot helped him study the hysteria Psychoanalysis is composed of an investigating method in the mind and interpreting the experience. It also includes theories about human behaviour that have been put in a systematic manner. The theory was predominantly inclined to interpretive methods, clinical observations and introspection (Freud, 1910). Psychoanalysis became famous since it appeared to tackle issues like the sexuality, the unconscious mind, and repression and view them as the most general aspects of development in psychology (Wertheimer, 2012). These were regarded as taboo at that particular time. Freud, therefore, offered a catalyst for such issues to open discussion in a society that was polite. Summary In 1910, Freud got an invitation from Hall to give a series of lectures to introduce his theory of Psychoanalysis to the North American audience in Massachusetts. In the fourth lecture, he begins by describing the nature of pathogenic complexes. He states, "Psychoanalytic investigations trace back to the history of the disease with surprising regularity to impressions from the sexual life" (Freud, 1910). Therefore, the illnesses are as a result of "erotic impulse components" for both sexes. He is aware that his assertion is not well credited, and his psychological labours think that he overestimates the "etiological share of the sexual moments". He argues that even though mental excitations lead to the repression phenomena and surrogate-creation, they have little significance and support for the effect of sexual moments. He supports his argument by saying that he had a deeper experience into the nature of the case. He says that those who have travelled with him to Worcester can vouch for him since at first they were sceptical about his assertion. He argues that patients conduct themselves in a manner that is hard to ascertain the effectiveness of his view. This is because they do not want to reveal their sexual information and especially the men who are not candid in matters of sex. He somehow supports them since in the civilized society, "no one can freely disclose his erotic life to his neighbour" (Freud, 1910). He states that physicians are under the ban of mixture of prudery and Lasciviousness, which defines the behaviour of Kulturmenschen in sexual affairs. He states that there is a thin line between the differences of connection of symptoms to the sexual and usual traumatic experiences. Rather, he connects the work of analysis to the patients adolescence and early childhood. According to him, sensitivity to later traumata can only be explained by the childhood experiences. The childhood wishes help in the creation of these symptoms and, therefore, should be considered as sexual in nature. He says that there is infantile sexuality and that sexual impulses may manifest even before puberty. They develop from the moment when a child is born, and it is also easier to observe the sexual behaviour of this child. He supports his argument with quotes from Dr. Sanford Bells thesis (1902), titled "A Preliminary Study of the Emotion of Love between both sexes". Bell wrote, "The emotion of sex love.... does not make its appearance for the first time at the period of adolescence as has been thought" (Freud, 1910). He says that he would not be surprised if the audience chose to believe the observations of the fellow countrymen rather than him since he has little hope that they would understand the idea of infantile sexuality. This is because most men and medical observers have no interest in the childs sexual life. He adds that the sexual impulse of the child allows for an analysis into various components, and it is not yet connected to the function of the reproduction. It enables the child to gain different types of pleasures. The child derives pleasure from auto-excitation of sensitive parts of the body (erogenous zones). Other sources of pleasure may be from sadism, masochism, and schaulust. He states that before puberty, most impulses have undergone repression as a result of education and mental forces such as disgust, shame, and morals. Other impulses may remain disconnected; that is they do not subordinate themselves, and this leads to perversion. He states that homosexuality also develops from a situation like this. Clinically, Sigmund Freud is commended for having pioneered the free association method of the therapeutic interest that is vital in interpretation of dreams (Freud, 1910). Other well-renowned psychoanalysis scholars include Erik Erickson, John Bowlby, and Erich Fromm. In the 20th century, the theory evolved in many schools of thoughts that were classified as the Neo-Freudian. Psychoanalysis was opposed by scholars Hans Eysenck and Karl Popper (Wertheimer, 2012). They argued that the psychoanalysis was being misrepresented as a discipline of science, and also viewed Freud as not being a scientist at all. References Evans, R., & Koelsch, W. (1985). Psychoanalysis arrives in America: The 1909 psychology conference at Clark University. American Psychologist, (40), 942-948. Fancher, R. (1998). Introduction and commentary. Digital Nature Agency, York University. Retrieved from http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/65347/sts-003-spring- 2008/contents/readings/freud.pdf Freud, S. (1910). The origin and development of psychoanalysis. The American Journal of Psychology, 181-218. Hergenhahn, B. (2005). An introduction to the history of psychology. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning. Valsiner, J. (2012). A guided science: History of psychology in the mirror of its making. New Brunswick: Transaction. Wertheimer, M. (2012). A brief history of psychology (5th ed.). New York: Taylor & Francis group. Read More