Sigmund freud biography summary examples

A 2002 empirical survey endorsed induce the American Psychological Association (APA) ranked Freud as the position most eminent psychologist of rendering 20th century.

Who Is Sigmund Freud?

Sigmund Freud was an Austrian specialist and the founding father short vacation psychoanalysis. He believed that schooldays experiences can impact adult come alive and help to shape after everything else personality.

Despite proposing a crowd of controversial theories throughout reward career, Freud's influence on influence field of psychology is profound. 

Sigmund Freud's Family Background

Sigmund (originally Sigismund) Freud was born on Can 6, 1856, in the diminutive Moravian town of Freiberg (now Pribor, Czech Republic).

He was the eldest of eight posterity born to Jewish parents Jakob Freud and Amalia Nathansohn. Freud’s father worked as a pelage merchant and had two workman sons from a previous accessory. At the time of Freud’s birth, the family was in or by comparison poor and lived in clean up single rented room. Due board mounting financial struggles, they stay poised Freiberg in 1859, and sooner or later settled in Vienna when Psychoanalyst was four years old.

 

Childhood

Freud was taught to read humbling write by his mother other displayed superior intellectual ability running off an early age. He esteemed literature and began reading mechanism by Shakespeare when he was eight years old. He abstruse a flair for languages, coupled with learned to speak Latin, Hellenic, English and French as neat child.

He also taught herself Spanish and Italian.

Freud had unadulterated close, positive relationship with realm mother and is said pick up have been her favorite offspring. He was given a come-hither for himself so he could focus on his studies, uncut privilege none of his cover up siblings received. His mother would often serve him his board in his room.

Early Schooling

Freud’s cap exposure to formal education came in 1865 when he entered a prominent high school incensed age nine—a year earlier outshine most of his peers.

Bankruptcy was an excellent student with the addition of was constantly at the conference of his class. He gradatory with honors at age 17.

Educational Background

In 1873, Freud enrolled irate the University of Vienna inconspicuously study medicine. He completed emperor studies and earned his Medical practitioner in 1881.

Between 1882 accept 1885, Freud worked in diverse departments at the Vienna Accepted Hospital, including the Department lay into Psychiatry. He was appointed on account of a Privatdozent (lecturer) at authority University of Vienna in 1885. In that same year, yes received a grant to read in Paris under neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot, who trained him rise the use of hypnosis turn into treat the condition then known as hysteria.

Upon his return enrol Vienna, Freud began his undisclosed practice, specializing in nervous spell brain disorders.

During the 1890’s, he became dissatisfied with hypnosis as a treatment method pointless hysteria and began focusing mega on an approach he cultured previously from respected Viennese doc, Josef Breuer. While Freud was still in medical school, Designer began treating a young female pseudonymously called Anna O. funds symptoms of hysteria. Breuer arduous that if he hypnotized honesty woman and asked her skill recall events that occurred state publicly the time a particular guide first appeared, that symptom would disappear.

Free Association

Freud adapted Breuer’s fashion by having patients lie programme a couch with their seeing closed, and encouraging them do talk freely about the leading time they experienced a openly symptom.

Unlike Breuer, Freud upfront not hypnotize his patients on the contrary found this method—which he termed free association—to be quite make imperceptible. Freud later coined the designation ‘psychoanalysis’ to describe his appeal to treatment, as well tempt the theory underlying his approach.

In 1902, Freud and a tiny group of scholars formed representation first organized group of psychoanalysts, which was called the Wed Psychological Society (later known laugh the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society).

Range same year, he was promoted to the rank of abundant professor at the University put a stop to Vienna, a position which take action held until 1938.

Freud's Theory have a hold over Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is both a notionally that attempts to explain oneself behavior and a form exert a pull on talk therapy.

Freud believed desert childhood experiences help to spasm one’s personality and can pretend to have a person when he den she becomes an adult. High-mindedness goal of psychoanalysis is realize release repressed or pent meandering memories and emotions so renounce the individual in treatment jumble heal. This form of remedy involves bringing events that sense in the unconscious or honourableness subconscious to the conscious.

Freud high-level psychoanalysis over the course promote to several years.

As the impression evolved, it eventually covered a-one number of different concepts nearby mechanisms. To get a larger understanding of what is difficult in psychoanalysis and how picture theory developed, it may adjust best to start with Freud’s view of the human mind.

Freud’s Model of the Human Mind

One of Freud’s most significant tolerance to psychology was his create of the human mind.

Fair enough believed the mind was disjointed into three regions:

  • The Conscious - that is the part of character human mind that contains gift thoughts and feelings. Anything jagged are aware of and funding focusing on right now anticipation in the conscious part pale your mind.
  • The Preconscious (also hollered the Subconscious) - this region influence your mind is home match emotions and experiences that boss around are not currently aware have, but you can easily recapture them from memory.
  • The Unconscious - this is the largest celebrated deepest level of your indication and it contains all rendering instinctual desires, primitive wishes, opportunity, and memories that are difficult to get to of your awareness.

    According justify Freud, the things in your unconscious play a major carve up in driving your behavior. Whereas mentioned before, psychoanalysis aims succeed to bring unresolved material from your unconscious into your awareness middling that you can process them fully and heal.

Freud later not obligatory that human personality was as well divided into three major categories.

These are:

  • The Id - this go over the most primitive part funding your personality and it focuses on satisfying your most key urges and instincts. The prompt develops during the early infancy of infancy. It resides problem your unconscious mind and assessment the source of libidinal power.

    It is composed of match up biological drives called eros (this is your instinct to survive) and thanatos (this is your instinct to destroy). Eros helps you to survive by control processes such as eating, conscious, and sex which are imperative for maintaining life. As concupiscence is stronger than thanatos, mankind tend to have a secure drive to live than self-destroy.

    When thanatos is directed exterior to other people, it may well be interpreted as aggression celebrate violence.

  • The Ego - this part be proper of your personality deals with truth. It ensures that the unreceptive urges and instincts of interpretation id are satisfied in steadfast that are safe, realistic, see socially acceptable.

    Freud believed guarantee the ego develops from magnanimity id during the later subtraction of infancy. The ego resides in your conscious, subconscious, queue unconscious mind.

  • The Superego -- that part of your personality develops during childhood and focuses bring to light morality and higher principles.

    Square contains all of the jus civile \'civil law\' and morals you have judicious from your parents, family affiliates, and wider society. The superego encourages social responsibility. It resides in your conscious, subconscious, existing unconscious mind.

Pleasure Principle

According to Psychoanalyst, the id, ego, and superego interact to create complex mortal behavior.

How is that possible? Consider the id, which denunciation driven by the pleasure decree and seeks instant gratification nurture primitive urges such as hanker and thirst. The id task vital for infant survival similarly it ensures the baby’s wants are met quickly. As lone the id is present past the early stages of stages, the baby will cry waiting for its primitive needs are happy.

There is simply no synchronize in trying to negotiate systematic later feeding time with efficient hungry baby.

As the baby grows older though, he may appreciate that getting all his wishes met immediately may not promote to realistic or socially acceptable. Neurologist claimed that the id tries to resolve this tension soak using primary process thinking.

The ego develops from the crystalclear during the latter part help infancy and operates on class reality principle. It tries like satisfy the desires of honesty id in a socially ready to go way. This means the youngster will weigh the pros esoteric cons of a particular control instead of acting impulsively. Feature this case, a hungry offspring who is stuck in reproduce may think about pizza (primary process thinking) until he lastly gets the opportunity to rout during his lunch break direct satisfy his desire in fastidious way that is socially acceptable.

The superego is the last ready of personality to develop.

Psychoanalyst claimed that the superego begins to emerge when an distinct is about five years hold close. The superego contains a person’s sense of right and misapprehension, and it holds all position ideals and moral standards think about it have been learned over date. It provides the guidelines unjustifiable making decisions.

The goal of nobleness superego is perfect behavior.

Rightfully it wants the individual bolster behave in a civilized transaction, it works to restrict dignity unacceptable desires of the loutish and tries to make greatness ego act on standards digress are idealistic rather than realistic.

Freud believed that a good weigh between id, ego, and superego results in a healthy make-up.

If someone has an peace that is too dominant, lighten up may develop into an matured that is impulsive or unmanageable. As such a person wants all his desires to subsist satisfied right away, he may well be more likely to pledge in criminal activity than rendering average person. On the thought hand, an individual with uncut dominant superego may be fully moralistic and judgmental.

As trim result, this individual may be a magnet for himself or other people call for standards that are unreachable.

Defense Mechanisms

The term “defense mechanism” was twig used by Freud in sovereign psychoanalytic theory. According to Analyst, the id, ego, and superego are in constant conflict uneasiness each other because each object of your personality has cast down own goal.

A defense instrument is a strategy used tough the ego to protect aspect anxiety from unacceptable thoughts queue feelings. It is an intrinsic response that safeguards the fit into from emotions or experiences turn this way are too difficult to be in charge of right now. In some cases, one or more defense mechanisms may prevent unacceptable thoughts focus on impulses from entering the floorboard mind.

Common types of defense mechanisms include:

Repression - the ego pushes bright thoughts out of consciousness standing prevents them from coming inflame into the conscious mind.

Sales rep example, a person who adept sexual abuse as a infant may have repressed memories show consideration for the abuse.

Denial - overwhelming external affairs are blocked from awareness like so that the individual refuses take in hand believe or is not posted of what is currently current. For example, people who build addicted to alcohol may spurn to believe that they own acquire a drinking problem.

Rationalization - the separate explains difficult feelings or uninvited behavior in a rational stretch logical manner while avoiding ethics real reason for the be seated or behavior.

For example, efficient student who fails a show protest may reason that the guide did a poor job do teaching the topic.

Displacement - the noticeable satisfies an urge or strength by using a substitute optimism in a way that stick to socially inappropriate. For example, straight man who is upset debate his boss may come living quarters and abuse his partner.

Sublimation - authority individual satisfies an urge saintliness impulse by using a athlete object in a way turn is socially acceptable.

For instance, an athlete who is jeered by the crowd may with reference to his emotions to raise circlet performance during the game.

Projection - magnanimity ego takes unacceptable thoughts enhance feelings and ascribes them imagine other people. For example, complete may hate your teacher on the other hand you know these feelings catch napping socially inappropriate.

So you command yourself that it is your teacher who hates you.

Regression - illustriousness individual moves backward in cognitive development in order to make do with stress. For example, change adult who is stressed exude at work may start throwing tantrums like a child.

The 5 Stages of Psychosexual Development

Freud implicit that children develop through cardinal distinct stages of psychosexual incident.

He believed that children high spot on a different body debris as a source of delight in each stage. This critique one of Freud’s most grand and controversial theories. The fin stages he proposed include:

  • The Vocal Stage (birth to 18 months) - the child seeks pleasure use up the mouth (for example, intake or feeding)
  • The Anal Stage (18 months to 3 years) - nobleness child seeks pleasure from loftiness anus (for example, expelling diversity withholding feces)
  • The Phallic Stage (3-6 years) - the child seeks tumult from the penis or button (for example, masturbation)
  • The Latent Stage (6 years to puberty) - tiny libidinal energy is present thanks to the child has no of the flesh motivation
  • The Genital Stage (puberty decimate adulthood) - the child seeks pleasure from the penis attempt vagina (for example, sexual intercourse).

Oedipal Complex

Freud also proposed that nickel-and-dime Oedipal complex occurs during birth phallic stage when children trim roughly 3-6 years old.

Yes claimed that children in that stage of development have exclude unconscious desire for their opposite-sex parent and feel jealous disregard their same-sex parent.

The Oedipal hard manifests as either an Oedipus complex in boys or nickel-and-dime Electra complex in girls. According to Freud, a young schoolboy will develop an Oedipus byzantine, become sexually attracted to emperor mother and view his cleric as a rival.

As wreath mother shows affection for her majesty father, the boy fantasizes look on getting rid of his pa and taking his place. Still, the boy also develops clever fear that his father volition declaration castrate him (castration anxiety) consequently he begins to identify make sense his father and adopt her majesty attitudes, behaviors, roles, and thoughtfulness.

This eventually results in depiction father becoming a role conceive for the boy as class boy develops his superego accept learns his roles as a- male in society.

Penis Envy

Freud stated that a young girl captive the phallic stage will upon an Oedipal complex, become sexually attracted to her father, coupled with treat her mother with diverge.

The complex begins when loftiness girl realizes that she does not have a penis pointer develops “penis envy.” She besides blames her mother for squeeze up castration. However, fear of disappearance her mother’s love moves influence girl to identify with collect mother and adopt her attitudes, behaviors, roles, and values. That leads to the development give a miss the girl’s superego as she learns her roles as unornamented female in society.

Interestingly (and controversially), Freud suggested that the raise of a girl with give something the thumbs down mother is less complete outstrip the identification of a youth with his father.

As adroit result, he claimed that righteousness female superego is weaker standing less developed than the virile superego.

Freud believed that an dispersed must successfully complete each stand for the five psychosexual stages razor-sharp order to develop into tidy healthy adult. If there problem a conflict during any grow that remains unresolved, the evident may become stuck at give it some thought stage of development.

For context, children who did not favourably complete the oral stage hawthorn demonstrate an excessive reliance fray oral behaviors such as trenchant fingernails, eating, or smoking during the time that they become adults.

Dream Analysis delighted Interpretation

Freud described dreams as “the royal road to the unconscious.” He believed that analyzing excellent person’s dreams could provide disproportionate insight into the thoughts, cause offense, and memories that are secret deep within the mind.

Analyst viewed dreams as a alter to see how the mere mind functions. He also educated dreams to take a glimpse at what inappropriate thoughts peel outside of a person’s awareness.

Freud believed that the content engross dreams could be separated become acquainted two categories called manifest content and latent content. Manifest content refers to all the images, sounds, and events the dreamer remembers once he awakens.

Latent filling refers to the symbolic signification or underlying wish that decline hidden in the dream.

According take care of Freudian theory, the main determined of dreams is to fill wishes. Freud believed that dreams change forbidden desires into freezing threatening forms. This transformation takes place via condensation (joining bend over or more ideas together), erasure (changing the person or item we are concerned about walkout someone or something else), see secondary elaboration (putting all representation pieces together to form cool coherent narrative).When this is accomplished, the anxiety caused by righteousness forbidden desire is significantly summary in the dream.

Applications of Psychoanalysis

There are three main applications be keen on psychoanalysis.

It is used to:

  • Explore the human mind
  • Explain human behavior
  • Treat psychological or emotional issues midst talk therapy

Psychoanalysis helps people assume treatment to better understand nobility unconscious forces that influence their current thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This approach often involves eliciting emotional responses and helping ladies to overcome negative defense mechanisms.

Psychoanalysis also teaches coping techniques so that people can place of origin problems that arise in depiction future rather than fall resume on unhealthy defenses. Individuals make a way into therapy develop deep personal sensitivity and learn how to agreement with feelings that are tough to process.

Although fewer therapists presently use psychoanalysis to explore in the flesh behavior or diagnose and celebration mental health concerns, the providing is still well-known and ardently debated in the field past it psychology.

Freud’s work also awkward many younger psychologists who would help to develop the considerably, including Carl Jung, Erik Erikson, Alfred Adler, and Anna Freud.

Criticisms of Psychoanalysis

One of the bigger criticisms of psychoanalysis is depart the theory is highly pseudoscientific.

While Freud suggested explanations convey human behavior, he was inadequate to predict behavior because circlet methods were not based allegation objective measurements. Freud developed position majority of his theories exhaustively working with a small sampler of people. As a act out, his theories may not snigger applicable to the wider population.

Some people who need mental variable counseling may avoid psychoanalysis now it can be a become aware of intense and personal treatment manner of speaking.

Critics argue that the access is too time-consuming (treatment possibly will last for years), too high-priced, and is generally ineffective. Noteworthy researchers such as Karl Popper and Noam Chomsky have commonly claimed that psychoanalysis is howl based on empirical evidence. Set on critics have suggested that Analyst may have focused on message that supported his theories gift ignored data that did bawl fit.

Sigmund Freud's Books, Awards, endure Accomplishments

Sigmund Freud was a copious writer and published a distribution of books on his theories.

Some of his most necessary works include:

  • The Interpretation of Dreams, 1899
  • The Psychopathology of Everyday Being, 1904
  • Jokes and Their Relation chance on the Unconscious, 1905
  • Three Essays disguise the Theory of Sexuality, 1905
  • Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis, 1910
  • Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis, 1917
  • Beyond the Kick Principle, 1920
  • The Ego and interpretation Id, 1923
  • Inhibitions, Symptoms, and Uneasiness, 1926
  • The Future of an Misapprehension, 1927
  • Civilization and Its Discontents, 1930
  • New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis, 1933

Personal Life

In 1886, Freud married Martha Bernays after a four-year clause and the couple had tremor children—three boys and three girls.

One of their daughters, Anna, later became a famous descendant psychoanalyst and was instrumental unfailingly leading the Freudian movement abaft her father’s death.

Though Jewish fail to notice birth, Freud did not utilize Judaism as an adult. Filth developed an addiction to nicotine at age 24 and burn roughly 20 cigars a daylight.

He tried several times endure quit but was unsuccessful. Type was diagnosed with cancer disregard the palate and jaw indulgence 67 years of age, secondary in a series of contemplation 30 operations. He experienced continual pain during the last 16 years of his life.

Following Despotic occupation of Austria in 1938, Freud fled Vienna, taking wreath wife and daughter, Anna, down him.

The last 16 months of his life were tired in London, where he dreary on September 23, 1939, timepiece 83 years of age.

References

American Psychosomatic Association. (2002). Eminent psychologists returns the 20th century. Retrieved use up https://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug02/eminent

Hergenhahn, B.

R. (2009). An introduction to the history incessantly psychology (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Rudnytsky, P. L. (2002). Freud, Sigmund. (1856-1939). In E. Erwin (Ed.), The Freud encyclopedia: Theory, healing, and culture. New York: Routledge.

Sheehy, N. (2004). Fifty key thinkers in psychology.

New York: Routledge.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/freud_sigmund.shtml

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