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Two Short Accounts of Psycho-Analysis
When Sigmund Freud was invited to lecture in America in 1909 he expounded, for the first time at any length, the results of his work in Vienna over many years. He described in these Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis his abandonment of hypnosis and his adoption, in order to disclose repressed complexes, of free association, the interpretation of dreams and the reason for apparently haphazard actions and errors. He devoted one lecture to the fundamental subject of sexuality and spoke of transference in analysis.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
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About the author
Sigmund Freud
4,380 books8,450 followersDr. Sigismund Freud (later changed to Sigmund) was a neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, who created an entirely new approach to the understanding of the human personality. He is regarded as one of the most influential—and controversial—minds of the 20th century.
In 1873, Freud began to study medicine at the University of Vienna. After graduating, he worked at the Vienna General Hospital. He collaborated with Josef Breuer in treating hysteria by the recall of painful experiences under hypnosis. In 1885, Freud went to Paris as a student of the neurologist Jean Charcot. On his return to Vienna the following year, Freud set up in private practice, specialising in nervous and brain disorders. The same year he married Martha Bernays, with whom he had six children.
Freud developed the theory that humans have an unconscious in which sexual and aggressive impulses are in perpetual conflict for supremacy with the defences against them. In 1897, he began an intensive analysis of himself. In 1900, his major work 'The Interpretation of Dreams' was published in which Freud analysed dreams in terms of unconscious desires and experiences.
In 1902, Freud was appointed Professor of Neuropathology at the University of Vienna, a post he held until 1938. Although the medical establishment disagreed with many of his theories, a group of pupils and followers began to gather around Freud. In 1910, the International Psychoanalytic Association was founded with Carl Jung, a close associate of Freud's, as the president. Jung later broke with Freud and developed his own theories.
After World War One, Freud spent less time in clinical observation and concentrated on the application of his theories to history, art, literature and anthropology. In 1923, he published 'The Ego and the Id', which suggested a new structural model of the mind, divided into the 'id, the 'ego' and the 'superego'.
In 1933, the Nazis publicly burnt a number of Freud's books. In 1938, shortly after the Nazis annexed Austria, Freud left Vienna for London with his wife and daughter Anna.
Freud had been diagnosed with cancer of the jaw in 1923, and underwent more than 30 operations. He died of cancer on 23 September 1939.
In 1873, Freud began to study medicine at the University of Vienna. After graduating, he worked at the Vienna General Hospital. He collaborated with Josef Breuer in treating hysteria by the recall of painful experiences under hypnosis. In 1885, Freud went to Paris as a student of the neurologist Jean Charcot. On his return to Vienna the following year, Freud set up in private practice, specialising in nervous and brain disorders. The same year he married Martha Bernays, with whom he had six children.
Freud developed the theory that humans have an unconscious in which sexual and aggressive impulses are in perpetual conflict for supremacy with the defences against them. In 1897, he began an intensive analysis of himself. In 1900, his major work 'The Interpretation of Dreams' was published in which Freud analysed dreams in terms of unconscious desires and experiences.
In 1902, Freud was appointed Professor of Neuropathology at the University of Vienna, a post he held until 1938. Although the medical establishment disagreed with many of his theories, a group of pupils and followers began to gather around Freud. In 1910, the International Psychoanalytic Association was founded with Carl Jung, a close associate of Freud's, as the president. Jung later broke with Freud and developed his own theories.
After World War One, Freud spent less time in clinical observation and concentrated on the application of his theories to history, art, literature and anthropology. In 1923, he published 'The Ego and the Id', which suggested a new structural model of the mind, divided into the 'id, the 'ego' and the 'superego'.
In 1933, the Nazis publicly burnt a number of Freud's books. In 1938, shortly after the Nazis annexed Austria, Freud left Vienna for London with his wife and daughter Anna.
Freud had been diagnosed with cancer of the jaw in 1923, and underwent more than 30 operations. He died of cancer on 23 September 1939.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 31, 2024
7/10
a fine introduction to freud - i particularly enjoyed the first half. it was very simple to follow, which makes sense given that this was freud's attempt at introducing america to psychanalytic theory. the second half, however, suffered from being too verbose in all the wrong areas. everything was too abstract - i especially liked the first half because it gave examples from patients which expounded upon the theory that freud was presenting. this was completely missing from the second half, and it was all the worse for it. I can't hold it too much against Freud, though. obviously between the writing of the first and the second halves two decades has elapsed, and Freud's theory has obviously progressed and gained complexity. partially it's on me for not understanding and keeping up with the terminology used, and getting lost in all of the moving parts of psychoanalysis
the second half also fell apart in the argumentative structure that freud employed. he presents arguments and then has a theoretical layperson respond to the arguments. theoretically, it's a fine way to present arguments, but something about the way Freud is doing it in this text doesn't work. he'll have this layperson respond to his previous paragraph with a rebuttal that is tangentially related at best, and then his response to the rebuttal also often seems irrelevant to what the layperson actually says. not to mention, the layperson's comments often seem intentionally strawmanned - which is fine as a vehicle for freud to make his arguments, but it can come across as pretty stilted.
a fine introduction to freud - i particularly enjoyed the first half. it was very simple to follow, which makes sense given that this was freud's attempt at introducing america to psychanalytic theory. the second half, however, suffered from being too verbose in all the wrong areas. everything was too abstract - i especially liked the first half because it gave examples from patients which expounded upon the theory that freud was presenting. this was completely missing from the second half, and it was all the worse for it. I can't hold it too much against Freud, though. obviously between the writing of the first and the second halves two decades has elapsed, and Freud's theory has obviously progressed and gained complexity. partially it's on me for not understanding and keeping up with the terminology used, and getting lost in all of the moving parts of psychoanalysis
the second half also fell apart in the argumentative structure that freud employed. he presents arguments and then has a theoretical layperson respond to the arguments. theoretically, it's a fine way to present arguments, but something about the way Freud is doing it in this text doesn't work. he'll have this layperson respond to his previous paragraph with a rebuttal that is tangentially related at best, and then his response to the rebuttal also often seems irrelevant to what the layperson actually says. not to mention, the layperson's comments often seem intentionally strawmanned - which is fine as a vehicle for freud to make his arguments, but it can come across as pretty stilted.
October 16, 2017
É bem introdutório, achei as primeiras palestras mais interessantes que o último trecho sobre análise praticada por não-médicos, que foi um pouco cansativo por alguns malabarismos argumentativos meio forçados... A parte mais interessante é a primeira palestra, em que ele conta brevemente um estudo de caso e dá pra entender que o Nobel dele foi bem merecido (de literatura, claro).
October 23, 2018
Great and easy read. It was easy to get my head around his theories and see a little of his personality as well.
July 2, 2019
Insightful, knowledgeable and necessary.
May 13, 2022
There is nothing in this book that cant be found elsewhere in Freud's works. This works well as an introduction to Freud, but that's it.
May 28, 2023
Great intro to methods
September 27, 2016
This is a great introduction to Sigmund Freud and his picture of the mind. The book opens with an introduction to Freud and talks briefly about his life, which I found to be an insightful and helpful introduction to the text. Following this are the Five Lectures which cover a range of Freud’s early theories on topics such as neurosis, repression, the unconscious, methods of treatment and infantile sexuality, and then the book closes with an essay on the question of the lay analyst.
I found the Five Lectures really interesting and easy to understand. Freud uses metaphors to explain his ideas and these are often very visual and memorable. I found his descriptions of repression particularly lucid and easy to understand, and they were also personally relatable. Although sexuality forms the nucleus of his theories, I found great value at the peripheries and I think his conception of repression and other resistances are still relevant today and offer great insight into the human condition.
Reading Freud in his own words you do feel his compassion for patients and although he may talk of his theories dogmatically, he often points out that this is merely to keep his teachings concise and actually warns against becoming overly dogmatic.
The second half of the book deals with whether non-doctors should be allowed to practice psycho-analysis, and while this question is tied to a specific time and place and may appear irrelevant today, it actually proves to be a highly valuable exploration. While making the case as to why non-doctors should be allowed to practice analysis, Freud expands on his earlier theories and provides an interesting discussion about attitudes towards mental disorders, which I would argue is still applicable today.
Included in this section is a lucid description of what is termed “Mental Apparatus”; the Ego and the ID are first described and then in later chapters the role of the Super-Ego is introduced. These concepts are presented in an easy to understand narrative and indeed throughout the book Freud’s use of metaphors makes his ideas easy to picture and therefore to understand. Freud proceeds to discuss therapeutic procedure in quite some depth here and starts to answer the question of the Lay Analyst in a specific way, namely what it takes to be an analyst, and how undertaking training to become one means that the trainee is no longer a layman in the field of psycho-analysis. Specifically it is argued that the person must have been in analysis himself, this is essential and is still echoed in today’s counselling training; self-analysis is a prerequisite. Challenges of analysis are discussed in some depth and I came away with a very good understanding of Freud’s view of “resistances”.
The final two chapters focus in on the difference between an analyst and a medically trained doctor, and how these differences form the crux of Freud’s argument against legislation that only medically trained doctors should be allowed to offer analysis. It is argued that the medical training that doctors receive is largely irrelevant to the practice of psycho-analysis and that the low opinion of the practice in medical circles could have a detrimental impact on therapeutic outcomes. There are further therapeutic considerations made and it is suggested that a differential diagnosis – a doctor and an analyst working together – is better for the patient for it provides certain safeguards and ensures the correct diagnosis of a somatic disease and a psychogenic illness. The book closes with Freud expressing his desire for psycho-analysis to not be restricted to medical treatment and he feels it could benefit other areas such as religious studies, social work and education, and this was put forward as another argument against restricting the field of psycho-anaylsis to medical doctors.
Overall I really enjoyed this book; it was an easy and digestible read and provides a solid introduction to the great Sigmund Freud. In places it is a little dated and despite this I feel the book has tremendous value if you’re interested in his ideas from a therapeutic perspective or even from a historical perspective. I feel there is a huge value in reading Freud in his own words for it affords you the opportunity to develop an informed opinion about his ideas rather than simply parroting popular opinion.
I found the Five Lectures really interesting and easy to understand. Freud uses metaphors to explain his ideas and these are often very visual and memorable. I found his descriptions of repression particularly lucid and easy to understand, and they were also personally relatable. Although sexuality forms the nucleus of his theories, I found great value at the peripheries and I think his conception of repression and other resistances are still relevant today and offer great insight into the human condition.
Reading Freud in his own words you do feel his compassion for patients and although he may talk of his theories dogmatically, he often points out that this is merely to keep his teachings concise and actually warns against becoming overly dogmatic.
The second half of the book deals with whether non-doctors should be allowed to practice psycho-analysis, and while this question is tied to a specific time and place and may appear irrelevant today, it actually proves to be a highly valuable exploration. While making the case as to why non-doctors should be allowed to practice analysis, Freud expands on his earlier theories and provides an interesting discussion about attitudes towards mental disorders, which I would argue is still applicable today.
Included in this section is a lucid description of what is termed “Mental Apparatus”; the Ego and the ID are first described and then in later chapters the role of the Super-Ego is introduced. These concepts are presented in an easy to understand narrative and indeed throughout the book Freud’s use of metaphors makes his ideas easy to picture and therefore to understand. Freud proceeds to discuss therapeutic procedure in quite some depth here and starts to answer the question of the Lay Analyst in a specific way, namely what it takes to be an analyst, and how undertaking training to become one means that the trainee is no longer a layman in the field of psycho-analysis. Specifically it is argued that the person must have been in analysis himself, this is essential and is still echoed in today’s counselling training; self-analysis is a prerequisite. Challenges of analysis are discussed in some depth and I came away with a very good understanding of Freud’s view of “resistances”.
The final two chapters focus in on the difference between an analyst and a medically trained doctor, and how these differences form the crux of Freud’s argument against legislation that only medically trained doctors should be allowed to offer analysis. It is argued that the medical training that doctors receive is largely irrelevant to the practice of psycho-analysis and that the low opinion of the practice in medical circles could have a detrimental impact on therapeutic outcomes. There are further therapeutic considerations made and it is suggested that a differential diagnosis – a doctor and an analyst working together – is better for the patient for it provides certain safeguards and ensures the correct diagnosis of a somatic disease and a psychogenic illness. The book closes with Freud expressing his desire for psycho-analysis to not be restricted to medical treatment and he feels it could benefit other areas such as religious studies, social work and education, and this was put forward as another argument against restricting the field of psycho-anaylsis to medical doctors.
Overall I really enjoyed this book; it was an easy and digestible read and provides a solid introduction to the great Sigmund Freud. In places it is a little dated and despite this I feel the book has tremendous value if you’re interested in his ideas from a therapeutic perspective or even from a historical perspective. I feel there is a huge value in reading Freud in his own words for it affords you the opportunity to develop an informed opinion about his ideas rather than simply parroting popular opinion.
December 20, 2012
Freud's work tends to be somewhat verbose and could rarely be considered to be particularly accessible.
It was a pleasant surprise therefore to find that this was much easier to read than a great deal of his other writings. The book is made up of two sections, the first is the Five Lectures he gave in America on Psychoananlysis and the second a long essay on Lay Analysis which was an argument on why lay practictioners (i.e. non medical school graduates) should be trained to be Psycho-analysts.
The lectures were aimed at an audience with no prior knowledge of the subject so were written in order to explain clearly to them the basis of Freud's theories. On these grounds they are very successful.
The second part of the book was less interesting as it sees to be more of a period piece with less relevance to the modern day. It does contain some interesting observations on medical attitudes to the mind, however, so it was still worth reading.
I would recommend this book to everyone who is interested in an introductory work to Freud's thinking.
It was a pleasant surprise therefore to find that this was much easier to read than a great deal of his other writings. The book is made up of two sections, the first is the Five Lectures he gave in America on Psychoananlysis and the second a long essay on Lay Analysis which was an argument on why lay practictioners (i.e. non medical school graduates) should be trained to be Psycho-analysts.
The lectures were aimed at an audience with no prior knowledge of the subject so were written in order to explain clearly to them the basis of Freud's theories. On these grounds they are very successful.
The second part of the book was less interesting as it sees to be more of a period piece with less relevance to the modern day. It does contain some interesting observations on medical attitudes to the mind, however, so it was still worth reading.
I would recommend this book to everyone who is interested in an introductory work to Freud's thinking.
April 16, 2013
If you have ever considered reading Freud this book is a great place to start. In the five lectures, Freud begins by crediting his mentor Joseph Breuer with bringing psychoanalysis into being with his work with Anna O. Freud goes on to describe his abandonment of the use of hypnosis and the evolution of his own form of psychoanalysis. He shares his ideas on important concepts such as repression, resistance, free association and infantile sexual instinct. The lectures are comprehensive enough to provide a basic grasp of Freud's ideas, whilst also written in accessible language.
Freud's work on "The Question of Lay Analysis" debates the merits of allowing the profession of psychoanalysis to be open to lay professionals, i.e., those who have not undergone medical training. The debate elaborates Freud's theoretical ideas and is written in an engaging manner with an "observer" posing some of the questions I would have liked to ask of Freud.
This book left me with the impression of Freud's brilliance as both a thinker and a teacher.
Freud's work on "The Question of Lay Analysis" debates the merits of allowing the profession of psychoanalysis to be open to lay professionals, i.e., those who have not undergone medical training. The debate elaborates Freud's theoretical ideas and is written in an engaging manner with an "observer" posing some of the questions I would have liked to ask of Freud.
This book left me with the impression of Freud's brilliance as both a thinker and a teacher.
November 29, 2016
Impeccable account of Freud's psychoanalysis for the layman. Clearly and succinctly outlined in a lucid and engaging way, this is essential reading for anyone constantly a little puzzled when hearing the word.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews