Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Psychology

Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Psychology
Instructions
Psychology may be known best today as a profession that deals with the understanding and treatment of psychological illnesses. This aspect of the profession of psychology, however, is a relatively recent development in the overall history of psychology. In this section, you will explore the emergence of psychotherapeutic movements in psychology, as well as recent trends in psychology.
As you have learned, the early focus of modern psychology was on consciousness and what drives human behavior. Austrian physician Sigmund Freuds work with patients suffering from hysteria and related disorders suggested that the key to understanding human behavior lies in the unconscious mind. Freud developed the therapeutic technique called free association where the patient is encouraged to say everything that comes to mind. Freud found that often the things that were said related to childhood events and to sexuality, both of which become prominent in his theory of personality. His psychoanalytical therapy attracted numerous followers, but Freud was notoriously intolerant of anyone who disagreed with him, particularly when his students Carl Jung and Alfred Adler began to branch off his theories. Jung, Adler, Karen Horney, Melanie Klein, and Freuds youngest daughter, Anna, eventually became known as Neo-Freudians.