Our story begins with Freud. He is born in
1856 in what is now part of the Czech Republic.
His family struggles financially in his early
years. However, by 1860 Freud’s family is
able to move to Vienna. In Vienna Freud gains
access to a prestigious education. He proves
to be a strong student and by the time he
finishes high school he is proficient in Italian,
French, German, Spanish, English, Hebrew,
Greek and Latin. Freud is heavily influenced
by medical philosophies of the time period
as well as by significant thinkers like Darwin
and Nietzsche. In 1873, when Freud is seventeen years old, he begins his university education
in medicine. One of the few prestigious career
opportunities available for Jewish men at
that time in Vienna. He graduates with his
medical degree in 1881. In 1882 he begins
practicing medicine and soon finds himself
working at a psychiatric clinic specializing
in neuropathology. A common belief in the
scientific and medical community at that time
was that inferior people, or those with bad
genes or weakened stock, were more likely to
succumb to mental disorders. Those within
what would later be called the eugenics movement
advocate for the prohibition of marriage and
for the sterilization of inferior groups of
human beings, including the mentally ill and later the Jews. Freud abandons his career
in medicine and research in 1886 to open a
private practice treating nervous disorders.
His clients are primarily upper class Jewish
women. He starts out using hypnosis but later
discards the technique in favor of free association.
As Freud sees more patients and hears their
stories, he comes to believe that neurosis
is caused by childhood trauma and more specifically
sexual abuse. Rampant childhood sexual abuse
is highly conflictual with Victorian culture
of the late 1800s, and Freud is ostracized
for these claims. During this time, Freud begins
experiencing disturbing dreams and symptoms
consistent with depression and anxiety. This
prompts his own self analysis, which ultimately
results in a significant revision of his theory.
Some disagreement exists as to whether his theory shifted in response to social pressures
or if the shift occurred as a natural progression
using the scientific method. Through his own
dream work and free association Freud uncovers
an intense childhood love for his mother and
jealousy towards his father. He concludes
that his patients reports of sexual abuse
were likely childhood fantasies. It is now
his belief that these fantasies become problematic
when they are repressed. Although Freud continues
to be largely rejected by the scientific and
medical community in Vienna, he attracts a dedicated group of supporters by 1910. In
1913 Watson publishes his behaviorist manifesto
rejecting Freud’s consciousness and emphasizing
the importance of behavior. However, after
World War I, psychoanalysis gains traction,
as it is used to treat what we now refer to
as PTSD primarily through dream work. By the
roaring 20s, Freud’s theory is well
known in the U.S. Freud flees Vienna in 1938
to escape the Nazi’s and dies shortly after
that. Following World War II and well into
the 1950’s psychoanalytic theory’s influence
continues to spread and psychoanalysis becomes
the foundation for the development of various
forms of psychotherapy.
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