Freud - The Key Ideas: An introduction to Freud's pioneering work on psychoanalysis, sex, dreams and the unconscious

the Key ideas

by Ruth Snowden

Gain a solid understanding of the main concepts
Reading the complete works of Sigmund Freud would take more time than most of us have to spare. Freud - the Key Ideas condenses all the information you need about the life and work of the great man into one book. With clear explanations and examples drawn from Freud's own cases you will soon have a solid understanding of the main concepts, from psychosexual development to dream analysis.


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Not got much time?
One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started.

Author insights
Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience.

Test yourself
Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress.

Extend your knowledge
Extra online articles to give you a richer understanding of the subject.

Five things to remember
Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts.

Try this
Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Science

240 pages, Paperback

First published February 26, 2010

Reviews

[Mohammad Hrabal · Rating 4 out of 5]

خلاصه، دارای زبانی ساده و فهمی راحت و مناسب برای آشنایی اولیه وکلی با فروید. من که خیلی دوستش داشتم. فقط عیب بزرگ این کتاب نداشتن پانویس (فوت نوت) است. کاش مترجم در چاپ‌های بعدی معادل‌های موجود در متن اصلی (انگلیسی) برخی از لغات و اصطلاحات تخصصی و اسامی و ... را پانویس کند.

[Теодор Панов · Rating 5 out of 5]

Информацията в книгата е много добре структурирана. Предоставена е на лесен и достъпен език и се чете и възприема с лекота. Подходяща е както за хора, които се начинаещи в областта на психологията, така и за онези които са просто любознателни и искат да научат повече за живота и работата на Фройд около същността на психоанализата, тълкуването на сънищата, изследването на несъзнаваното, развитието в детска и зряла възраст и др. На мен лично ми беше много полезна. И в следващата книга (от същия автор) по-подобен начин се разглежда и Карл Юнг, и там отново нещата са добре представени и разгърнати.

[Aida · Rating 4 out of 5]

دید کلی ای که می خواستم از کارها و اندیشه های فروید بدست بیارم رو تونستم کسب کنم. مختصر و مفید توضیح داده بود.

[Лора Дулова · Rating 1 out of 5]

Officially, this is the worst pseudo-intro to something book I've ever read. It is focused mostly on history, repetitive and redundant to an obscene extent. The author gives the most unfounded opinions at the worst of times and the reconstruction of Freud's key ideas was mediocre at best.

[غيداء الجويسر]

عشان انا مش قادرة ابطل عادة اني "اتنطط" بين الكتب
:D

[Ali Amiri · Rating 2 out of 5]

خرید این کتاب مربوط به دوره‌ی همه‌چیز و هر چیز از فروید و درباره‌ی فروید بود.‏ نمی‌گم خوندنش یک‌سر خالی از لطف بود، چون باعث مرور دانسته‌ها شد، ولی چیز جدید یا بینش نویی برام نداشت.‏

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very quite shallow and cursory summary, and frankly not very well written.

[Rares Antonio · Rating 3 out of 5]

This will be a much shorter review, for when reviewing non-fiction, my brain tends to ironically store all the learnt info in the pits of my subconscious and only comes out when analysing some stupid shit my friend has said usually in a fit of psychosis.

Anyways, a good introduction to Freud, and I commend it for not claiming to be more than an introduction, because throughout the book that's exactly what it felt like and nothing more than that. A lot of good points and interesting topics were explored, but not in enough detail to be completely linked and conclusive in building a picture of Freud's ideas surrounding psychoanalysis. However, what is not enough for me is perfect for another, and I cannot say bad things about a book that does what it sets out to, enough information for me would probably span multiple volumes.

In essence however, I understood more about Freud, but also started challenging a lot of held beliefs I thought I knew about him. Being much more open to his ideas in my mind because, as I saw him, he did not sugarcoat things that he thought, and the degree to which he went to challenge conventions meant something within his theory held weight, and they do to certain extents, being reflected in bucketloads within modern society to such a level that I think if Freud existed today he would despair from how right some of his assumptions are.

And yet while some of his theories hold weight, many do not. I have a lot of trouble connecting the scientific Freud that Freud himself claimed to be, so much so that it harmed his investigations at some points, with the actual Freud that came across. Many of his theories seemed nothing more than an exercise in storytelling, grabbing at straws and trying to link all things back to underlying sexual disturbances, which I will concede are unbelievably important within psychoanalysis along with all other passions of animalistic natures, but I still believe are far fetched, to apply the theory of sexual disturbances to all cases is flawed. Some of his ideas I have trouble connecting with are the theories of the primordial society, penis envy/womb envy, the almost storylike theory of children of opposite sexes being afraid of others due to genital reasons etc. etc. However, this may just be the fault of the shortness of the book and it's lack of in depth explanation.

I had a particular hard time with the confirmation bias that this path of psychology has, anyone that says anything to question it is labelled as proof by Freud of his theories, which creates an inescapable samsaric back and forth where his theories in essence cannot be questioned.

I definitely believe in Freud's theories surrounding repression, regression, resistance, his ideas on Consciousness, unconsciousness and subconsciousness, the id, ego and super-ego and the analysis of dreams, and probably others that I'm forgetting to mention, in that I believe that they hold weight, and are very potent in their analytical abilities.

There are a lot of things I think I labelled as Laingian, some things reminiscent on spinal-catastrophy theory which is not shocking as a lot of that theory bases of unknown universal human unconscious knowledge. But yeah, that's essentially it, I found a lot of it interesting and a large amount of it unbelievably far fetched, and I'm assuming many others found it that way two. Nudge Nudge Jung, Fromm, Adler etc.

In summary, a hearty introduction to Freud, full of information that one would better write down to have any hope of remembering even a fraction of this book, and a book that really displays, without sugarcoating, the starkness of Freud's theories.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Много добре и обхватно са представени идеите на Фройд. Как е повлиял на развитието на психологията, кои школи са плод на развитието на някои от идеите му, как други пък се зараждат от несъгласието с други негови идеи (голяма част от които действително несъстоятелни от днешна гледна точка) на изначално негови последователи, между които и Юнг. Оценъчната намеса е много дипломатично поднесена.
Кратко и ясно поднесени основни идеи на безспорен новатор в науката.

[Huyen Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just read the key ideas, focus points and some parts for recap. I think it's a nice short summary and easy understanding book about Freud and his work. If you have a short attention span, just like me, it's definitely a nice book to read :)

[Diāna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well put together. Some insights into Freud life plus highlighting key aspects of psychoanalysis. Good introduction into his big idea!

[Hamidreza_tr · Rating 3 out of 5]

مناسب جهت شروع فروید خوانی.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many psychology students, my brief encounters with Freud during lectures left me with the impression that he may have been an important figure in the history of psychology, but his ideas are completely irrelevant today and even laughable. How can we take ideas like castration envy and the Oedipus complex seriously in the modern age? Whenever a friend would assume I'm an expert in Freud because of my degrees in psychology, I'd quickly set them straight by telling them that Freud's ideas are unscientific and irrelevant for modern psychology, and typically only held by those who want to retain a slightly more exciting (but inaccurate) conceptualisation of the psyche.

However, in recent months I've come to realise that my view of psychoanalysis was perhaps a little harsh, and I was dismissing a valid field of enquiry. In Freud: The Key Ideas, Ruth Snowden does a fine job of articulating Freud's most important beliefs about the psyche and psychoanalysis, the way his beliefs changed over time in response to challenges from his contemporaries, and, importantly, provides the historical context for the beliefs and explains why they're not quite so kooky after all. She demonstrates how some of his ideas evolved and are are by no means incompatible with modern beliefs, and how others have been discarded. A good introduction to anyone interested in learning more about the founding father of modern psychology, although extra reading will of course have to be done if you want to understand his views in more depth. 6/10

[Atina Bregvadze · Rating 5 out of 5]

წიგნი ფროიდის იდეების, მიგნებების, ინტერესებისა და კვლევების შესახებ.
რამდენიც არ უნდა ვიკამათოთ მისი პიროვნების კონტრავერსულობის თაობაზე, ფსიქოლოგია არ და ვერ იარსებებს ფროიდისა და ფსიქოანალიზის გარეშე.

შეიძლება არ ვიზიარებდეთ მისი კვლევის მეთოდებს, მის მეცნიერულ საფუძვლებს მოკლებულ დასკვნებსა და ანალიზს, თუმცა იმ საუკუნეში და იმ წლებში არსებული რესურსების და ცოდნების გათვა���ისწინებით, he did his best. ასერომ, team Freud

[Amirali Avazpour · Rating 3 out of 5]

اوایل که با دکتر حیدری مشغول صحبت و مشاوره برای ذهن و اتفاقات زندگیم بودم، به این نتیجه رسیدم که باید برای بهتر شدن وضعیت ذهن و روانم، یه سیر مشخص کتابخونی داشته باشم...
اونجا بود که فروید و کتاباش، نقطه عطفی بود تا از زندان تاریک افکارات سمی که دارم بیرون بیام...
این اولین کتابی بود که باهاش فروید رو شروع کردم. شاید کتاب خیلی جون‌داری نباشه ولی به قولی یه ویکیپدیای خوب از فروید به مخاطب ارائه میده....
این باشه تا بعد:)

[Beyad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very big help in my psychology class. It's an easy way to understand Freud's ideas.

[Azad · Rating 4 out of 5]

مختصری در مورد فروید زندگی اش نظریات و اطرافیانش

[Amirhossein Ahmadinoori · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب خوبی بود ولی به نظرم اگه بیشتر به کارها به جنبه های برجسته نظریات فروید میپرداخت بهتر بود یا اگه بیشتر دیدگاه های روانشناسی امروزی رو مطرح میکرد.

[Rosalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t really know what I was expecting with this book, certainly not an in depth analysis of Freud's main ideas and work, but something more than just a quick mention of his different theories and ideas. Having read Adam Cash’s excellent Psychology for Dummies (which got me to this book), I was looking for a bit more detail about Freud’s theories, especially the id, ego and super-ego which start to look at analysis and it affects everyone. While I did take away some new information about Freud, his work and the importance of some of his ideas, it really wasn't satisfying enough.
Ruth Snowden has a very dry writing style and the book is almost text book in style. Apart from the drawings (which weren’t funny in my opinion), there was very little attempt to lighten the book and subject matter and make it more enjoyable. I did finish the book and felt that the last 2 chapters didn’t really add much to a discussion of Freud’s ideas.

[Leon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great entry level book to psychoanalysis and Freud himself. The content of this book should not be taken as conclusive facts but rather a starting point to psychoanalysis.

Key points:-

- Understanding the importance of childhood experiences in the development of the adult personality.
- The existence of unconscious and its huge influence over human behaviour.
- The way we all use defence mechanisms to protect our egos.
- The importance of dreams in understanding our true thoughts and feelings.
- The fact that talking about a problem often leads to helping to resolve it.
- Defence mechanisms
- Id, ego, superego ( pleasure/reality principle)
- Oedipus/Electra complex
- Freudian slip
- 3 therapy process ; Free association technique, transference and the analysis of dreams.

[Moony Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall an interesting book regarding Freud's ideas and contribution into the work of psychoanalyisis. This book definitely isn't an easy read that you can just plough through in a few days as there are quite a few topics being discussed (especially if you're new to pscyhoanalysis).

The only criticism I have for this book is that the author doesn't confirm at times whether some of Frued's theories have been proven to be accurate/inaccurate from science. There at times which the author does share their own personal views on Freud's theories (some of which are 'sexist' by today's standards). So while this is a book which objectively goes through Freud's life and work, there are moments of subjective inputs from the author.

[David Franklin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Given Freud’s apparent brilliance it is difficult to believe that he didn’t come up with anything better than the trite and unconvincing ideas outlined in this book. However, the book is not well written so perhaps these ideas are not given sufficient justice. I also have Snowden’s Jung book to read, or at least to try and read - it’s hard going reading the Freud book as it is so unutterably dull. I read Jung’s Memories, Dreams, Reflections a while back and thought it fascinating so either Jung is for me and Freud is most definitely not, or Snowden does one or both of them a great disservice. Time will tell.

[Shila Iris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a valuable introduction to Sigmund Freud’s contributions to psychoanalysis. What is important is that Freud constantly developed and reassessed his own ideas.

I too reassess my ideas and study and analyze myself.

Understanding myself is my primary vocation. This allows me to comprehend and interact with others on a harmonious level. I am not above or below anyone. We stand face to face. Perhaps each person can learn to analyze themself first before someone has to do it for them.

[Jennifer Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent "beginners book" for anyone interested in Freud's theories.

One of the things I liked best about this book is that it gave some wonderful starting points to encourage further research!


By no means a comprehensive guide to Freud's important studies, this book serves as a great way to learn the fundamentals.


Very readable and a great addition to any clinician's or pop psych fan's personal library :-)

[Gökhan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although the aim of the work is to explain Sigmund's splendid contributions to the psychology in an apprehensible way, it occasionally becomes reiterative. Yet I don't, by any means, claim that the book is tedious to read. In fact, those reiterations turn out to be stirring if you aspire to grasp the ways in which human psyche works. Anyway, on no account should I keep reading books, my over-I forces me to spend my spare time on earning some money, not on books...

[James Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

A concise and worthwhile read that succinctly and engagingly introduces you to the main aspects of Freud’s life, theories of consciousness, and theory of psychoanalysis.

One thing this taught me was that the (weird) psychoanalysis that Freud is best known for now can be quite distinct from the worthwhile concepts of unconsciousness, consciousness, neuroticisms, and so on that he developed.

The book is a relative page turner and has a fun style that doesn’t detract from the quality.

[Anete Beinarovica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not gonna lie, I picked is up because I got tired of reading "A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis" and wanted to get the gist of Freud's ideas quicker. Overall, this was OK to get a very general and simplified overview of what his life and research was all about.

P.S. for the love of Freud, please justify the right side of the text before you publish a book!

[Ainsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8

I came at this book with almost no knowledge of who Freud was and some parts of psychology. Personally I think that this kind of ‘recap’ book is good in the way that it gets the upmost basic ideas across but I do think because of its simplicity, it kind of lacks structure of the ideas and its kind of like a sparse web of amalgamated ideas.

[Jake Pointer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second of The Key Ideas books I've read and I've given it 5 stars because it does exactly what it says, gives the Key ideas in an easy understandable way! That's not to say you'll agree with what Freud said but if you want a hearty general overview then this is a very good source

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this book I thought was highly interesting, other parts I lost interest and struggled to understand his point. It’s certainly worth a read if you’re interested in this kind of thing. If you’re not, you’re going to get bored easily and you’re going to find it painful to read