what was sigmund freuds greatest contribution to the understanding of the self?

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Psychology'south nearly famous figure is likewise one of the nigh influential and controversial thinkers of the twentieth century. Sigmund Freud'south theories and work helped shape our views of babyhood, personality, retentivity, sexuality, and therapy. Other major thinkers take contributed work that grew out of Freud's legacy, while others developed new theories in opposition to his ideas.

Freud's Life

In gild to understand his legacy, it is important to begin with a look at his life. His experiences informed many of his theories, and then learning more about his life and the times he lived in can lead to a deeper agreement of where his theories came from.

He was born in what is now the Czech Republic in 1856 equally the oldest of viii children. He went on to earn a medical degree and began practice as a doc in Vienna, Austria. It was while treating patients that he developed his famous theories of the id, ego, and superego, the libido, the life and expiry instincts, and psychoanalysis.

Key Theories

Freud'due south theories were enormously influential, but bailiwick to considerable criticism both now and during his ain life. Nevertheless, his ideas have become interwoven into the cloth of our civilisation, with terms such as "Freudian sideslip," "repression," and "denial" appearing regularly in everyday linguistic communication.

I of his most indelible ideas is the concept of the unconscious listen, which is a reservoir of thoughts, memories, and emotions that prevarication outside the awareness of the conscious heed.

He also proposed that personality was made up of three primal elements, the id, the ego, and the superego. Some other important Freudian theories include his concepts of life and death instincts, the theory of psychosexual development, and the mechanisms of defence.

Freud and Psychoanalysis

Freud's ideas had such a stiff affect on psychology that an entire school of thought emerged from his work. While information technology was eventually replaced by behaviorism, psychoanalysis had a lasting touch on on both psychology and psychotherapy.

Psychoanalysis sought to bring unconscious information into witting awareness in lodge to bring nigh catharsis. This catharsis was an emotional release that could bring about relief from psychological distress.

Enquiry has found that psychoanalysis can be an effective treatment for a number of mental wellness conditions. The self-examination that is involved in the therapy procedure can aid people achieve long-term growth and improvement.

Freud's Patients

Freud based his ideas on his case studies of patients or other individuals who he corresponded with other doctors and psychiatrists about. These patients helped shape his theories and many have become well known in their ain correct. Some of these individuals included

• Anna O. (aka Bertha Pappenheim)
• Petty Hans (Herbert Graf)
• Dora (Ida Bauer)
• Rat Human (Ernst Lanzer)
• Wolf Man (aka Sergei Pankejeff)
• Sabina Spielrein

Anna O was never actually a patient of Freud's. She was, however, a patient of Freud'south colleague Josef Breuer. The two men corresponded oftentimes most Anna O's symptoms, eventually publishing a volume exploring her case, "Studies on Hysteria." Information technology was through their work and correspondence that the technique known every bit talk therapy emerged.

Major Works by Freud

Freud's writings detail many of his major theories and ideas, including his personal favorite, "The Interpretation of Dreams." "[Information technology] contains...the most valuable of all the discoveries it has been my good fortune to brand. Insight such as this falls to 1'south lot but once in a lifetime," he explained.

Some of his major books include:

• "The Interpretation of Dreams"
• "The Psychopathology of Everyday Life"
• "Totem and Taboo"
• "Civilization and Its Discontents"
• "The Future of an Illusion"

Freud's Perspectives

Outside of the field of psychology, Freud likewise wrote and theorized about a broad range of subjects. He as well wrote about and developed theories related to topics including sex, dreams, religion, women, and civilisation.

Views on Women

Both during his life and subsequently, Freud was criticized for his views of women, femininity, and female sexuality. One of his most famous critics was another psychologist named Karen Horney, who rejected his view that women suffered from "penis green-eyed." She instead argued that men experience "womb envy" and are left with feelings of inferiority because they are unable to bear children.

Views on Organized religion

Freud was born and raised Jewish but described himself as an atheist in machismo. "The whole matter is so patently infantile, then foreign to reality, that to anyone with a friendly attitude to humanity it is painful to think that the great majority of mortals volition never be able to rise to a higher place this view of life," he wrote of organized religion.

He continued to take a keen interest in the topics of religion and spirituality and wrote a number of books focused on the subject.

Psychologists Influenced past Freud

In addition to his grand and far-reaching theories of human psychology, he besides left his marking on a number of individuals who went on to become some of psychology's greatest thinkers. Some of the eminent psychologists who were influenced past Sigmund Freud include:

• Anna Freud
• Alfred Adler
• Carl Jung
• Erik Erikson
• Melanie Klein
• Ernst Jones
• Otto Rank

While Freud'southward work is oft dismissed today equally non-scientific, there is no question that he had a tremendous influence not simply on psychology but on the larger civilisation as well.

Many of his ideas take become so steeped in public awareness that nosotros oftentimes forget that they take their origins in his psychoanalytic tradition.

Contributions and Influence

In 1999, Time Magazine referred to Freud every bit one of the most important thinkers of the last century. Another article dubbed him "history's almost debunked doctor."

Despite the debates and controversy over the value of his theories, Freud had a meaning and lasting influence on the field of psychology.

Perchance Freud's most important contribution to the field of psychology was the development of talk therapy as an approach to treating mental health issues. In add-on to serving as the ground for psychoanalysis, talk therapy is part of many psychotherapeutic interventions designed to help people overcome psychological distress and behavioral problems.

A Word From Verywell

While Freud'southward theories have been the subject of considerable controversy and fence, his impact on psychology, therapy, and culture is undeniable.

Every bit West.H. Auden wrote in his 1939 verse form, "In Retentivity of Sigmund Freud,"

"if ofttimes he was wrong and, at times, absurd,
to us he is no more a person
now but a whole climate of opinion."

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Source: https://www.verywellmind.com/sigmund-freud-his-life-work-and-theories-2795860#:~:text=Key%20Theories,-Freud's%20theories%20were&text=One%20of%20his%20most%20enduring,the%20ego%2C%20and%20the%20superego.

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