Controversy around Freud’s teachings

The theory, the approach itself and the general cultural heritage of Sigmund Freud caused and cause the most fierce disputes.

It is interesting that in Russia Freud is known and respected much more than Skinner. In America, on the contrary, behaviorism and specifically Skinner are much more respected than Freud and Freudianism. In 1972, the American Psychological Association (which already had about a hundred thousand members at that time) named the most prominent psychologists of the XNUMXth century. According to the almost unanimous opinion of the members of the association, this honorary list was headed by the then living B.F. Skinner. However, Z. Freud was named second (Stepanov S. Biography of Burres Frederick Skinner).

Freud influenced the entire European culture, for example, Proust, Joyce, Sartre, Dali, Picasso. The influence of Z. Freud on both academic and practical psychology is enormous.

From the work of Z. Freud went:

• Freudianism itself or classical psychoanalysis, which derives all the problems of an adult from the sexual instinct,
• a psychoanalytic direction that derives all the moments and problems of an adult from the events and experiences of his childhood and, more broadly, explains that a person’s behavior is due to psychological reasons hidden in himself, which he is not aware of,
• psychodynamic direction, which connects what is happening in the human soul with the deep struggle (dynamics) of unconscious forces.

Freudianism

In the broad sense of the word, «Freudianism» refers to classical (orthodox) psychoanalysis, in contrast to neo-Freudianism, Jung’s analytical psychology and Adler’s individual psychology. In a stricter and more precise sense, this term refers to the teachings of Z. Freud in the form in which it was created by him in the period from 1900 to 1938.

The main theses by which Freudianism is recognized:

• A person is selfish by nature, at the heart of all human actions and all his problems, ultimately, are repressed sexual desires (libido). Neurosis is formed as a result of the collision of sexual desires with the inability to satisfy them. The symbolism of dreams and reservations has a predominantly sexual meaning (Freud Z. The Interpretation of Dreams, 1900).
• All children go through the Oedipus complex (Freud Z. Analysis of the phobias of a five-year-old boy (The Case of Little Hans, 1909).

Boys begin to desire their mother and hate their father as a rival, girls similarly direct their incestuous desires towards their mother, but in addition begin to experience penis envy.

• The development of childhood sexuality passes through five phases: oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital (Freud Z. Three essays on the theory of sexuality, 1905).

Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis (in the broad sense of the word) explains that a person’s behavior is due to psychological reasons hidden in himself, which he is not aware of.

For example, we analyzed the behavior of a person and understood the conditional benefits hidden from him:

Mom swears at her daughter «loafer», but she herself does not let her daughter work. Why? Because, in fact, she is unconsciously afraid of the independence of her daughter, who can leave her alone. — This is a psychoanalytic approach.

Or, in a similar way, we can find out the reasons for significant or recurring events in the life of our other patient, which, most likely, shaped her current habits, attitudes, and emotional reactions: it turns out that the mother always told her daughter “you can’t trust men,” and today she is already an adult girl avoids close, trusting relationships with men. Her current behavior has become clear to us — this is also a psychoanalytic approach.

Psychoanalysis in a narrower sense, as a psychoanalytic approach, is an approach in psychology when the main points (and problems) of adult behavior are derived (explained) from the events and experiences of his childhood.

This approach is much more widespread than Freudianism, and is understood much more broadly than it was interpreted by S. Freud. A wide variety of children’s impressions (including those not connected with sexual experiences in any way) or children’s decisions and habits can have a serious impact on adult life, and it is the task of psychoanalysis to understand, «unearth» these children’s influences.

The theme of the importance of motherly love in childhood is psychoanalysis, not Freudianism.

Psychoanalysis is not synonymous with the indisputable. Talking about birth trauma (Blum Herald. Psychoanalytic theories of personality. — M .: KSP, 1996) and its impact on the life of an adult is not Freudianism, but a version of a very controversial psychoanalysis. It is possible and necessary to argue whether childhood grievances and the fact that you have not forgiven someone affect your life today — but you need to be aware that this is psychoanalysis.

Psychodynamic direction

Often the psychoanalytic approach is also referred to as the psychodynamic approach. It seems that this is not entirely accurate, there is some difference between these approaches.

The psychodynamic approach is an approach according to which everything that happens on the surface, in a sick or healthy human psyche, is determined by the deep dynamics (interaction and struggle) of the forces inside the psyche (The psychodynamic approach originates from classical psychoanalysis (Freud Z. — Freud S.)

At the same time, the psychodynamic approach does not a priori state that deep dynamics is necessarily a collision of primary sexual drives with the reality principle. These can be a wide variety of drives (both adolescence and various socially unacceptable drives and beliefs that have already formed in an adult). In this case, understanding these conflicts, understanding them is the task of the psychodynamic approach, but Freudianism has nothing to do with it.

Striving for superiority, an inferiority complex (Adler A. Science to live. Kyiv: Port-Royal, 1997) is a psychodynamic approach, but not Freudianism. Domestic personality-oriented reconstructive psychotherapy based on the psychology of relationships V.N. Myasishchev — a kind of psychodynamic psychotherapy (V.N. Myasishchev. Mental characteristics of a person. Character, abilities. T. 1-2, 1957 (jointly with A. G. Kovalev). Existential-humanistic psychotherapy — similarly.

The psychodynamic approach is also not a synonym for the indisputable. Talking about past lives and their impact on your life today (transpersonal psychology (Drury N. Transpersonal Psychology., 2001) is not Freudian and not psychoanalysis, but a variant of a very controversial psychodynamic approach.

K. Jung, A. Adler, O. Rank, G. Sullivan, K. Horney, E. Fromm and many others worked in the psychoanalytic and psychodynamic approach. Today, in practical psychology, within the framework of these approaches, there are (we will name the most famous schools and directions): transactional analysis (Bern E. Soul healing. Transactional analysis in psychotherapy. Series: Human Workshop. Publisher: LITUR, 2004), psychodrama (Moreno, Ya L. Psychodrama / Translated from English by G. Pimochkina, E. Rachkova. — Moscow: April Press: EKSMO-Press, 2001), (as its variety — systemic constellations (Bert Hellinger. conflicts and contradictions». Translated from German by Ingrid Ratz. Moscow, Publishing House of the Institute of Psychotherapy, 2001) and body-oriented psychotherapy (Pearls F. The Practice of Gestalt Therapy. Translated by M.P. Papusch. M .: Institute for General Humanitarian Research, 2001).

Analysis of Freudianism

Analyzing the teachings of Freud, one should not confuse three essentially different things: Freudianism, psychoanalysis and the psychodynamic approach. Different specialists may treat these areas diametrically opposite, and a situation is quite real when one of Freud’s teachings is close and seems valuable to someone, but not close and seems controversial, or even absurd, the other. Next, we analyze Freudianism itself, without directly touching on the psychoanalytic and psychodynamic approach.

So,

The scientific nature of the concepts used

Can it be argued that the basic concepts of Freudianism can be called scientific concepts?

The available data indicate, rather, that the concepts introduced by Z. Freud do not have a definite scientific content and belong to the field of poetry and mythology.

The main criterion for the «scientific» of any theory is its empirical verification. Orthodox psychoanalysis has no empirical evidence. Moreover, it has many experimental rebuttals. In particular, the postulates of psychoanalysis contradict the «fundamental attribution error» (the impossibility of predicting a person’s behavior based on his personal characteristics) and experiments in the field of social psychology, which showed the insignificance of the long-term consequences of sexual or physical abuse experienced in childhood, the extremely insignificant influence of the family situation during childhood on behavior and life of an adult, etc.

“It turns out, for example, that in most cases the long-term effects of childhood physical or sexual abuse are relatively minor (Widom, 1989). The same is true of the long-term effects of teenage pregnancy on the lives of young women (Furstenberg, Brooks-Gunn, Morgan, 1987) and even the long-term effects of indoctrination in POW camps (Schein, 1956)» (Ross L., Nisbet R. Person and Situation : lessons of social psychology. M., 1999).

Laboratory experiments have shown that the processes occurring in the subconscious have nothing to do with those processes that are described by the theory of psychoanalysis (Kihistrom, 1998).

There is no empirical evidence for any of the tenets of psychoanalytic theory, such as the idea that development goes through an oral, anal, phallic, and genital stage, or that little boys have passion for their mother and hate and fear their fathers. There is no empirical evidence that the mechanisms by which psychoanalysis achieves its goals, such as transference and catharsis, are actually theory based. Brace Jovanovich, 2000. http://archive.psychologos.ru/Freudianism is no longer alive).

It is one thing to say that unconscious motives play a role in behavior. It is quite another to claim that all our thoughts and actions are guided by repressed sexual and aggressive urges; that children have erotic feelings for a parent of the opposite sex; and that little boys are hostile to their father, whom they regard as a rival in the struggle for their mother’s affections.

The unconscious memories found in laboratory studies of automatism and implicit memory are quite different from the unconscious memories in psychoanalytic theory.

Real healing effect

Many researchers of Z. Freud’s work claim that Freud repeatedly resorted to falsifications, talking about the effectiveness of the methods he used.

One of the famous and most brilliant recoveries, as the author points out, occurred with the «man with wolves,» so named because his neurosis began with a dream in which he saw white wolves. Freud was quick to conclude that these white wolves symbolize the underwear of mother and father. This patient was later interviewed by a psychologist and an Austrian journalist, who found that the poor man’s seizures continued sixty years after Freud considered him recovered.

Another well-known case is that of Anna O. This young girl had been suffering from a neurotic disorder since the day she sat at the bedside of her father, who was ill with tuberculosis, a disease that was to take him away very soon. Freud diagnosed «neurosis» and assured that he had cured it. Jung, who knew very well what was really going on, was the first to expose this lie and expressed complete contempt for Freud. G. F. Ellenberger in his book The Discovery of the Unconscious and Thornton in his book Freud and Cocaine clearly showed how Freud falsified the truth and cleverly deceived clients. As for «neurosis»: a young girl contracted tuberculosis from her father (Gwenael Verez. Mother and Spirituality: Confiscated Truth http://www.sacrum.ru/Modern/Froid.htm, Eysenck G. J. Forty years later: a new look on the Problems of Efficiency in Psychotherapy // Psychological Journal, Vol. 14, 1994. No. 4, pp. 3-19. B. N. Bezdenezhnykh.

Studies have shown that the effectiveness of psychoanalytic treatment is doubtful in some cases, given the cases of «natural recovery» of patients:

Approximately two thirds of all neurotic disorders spontaneously disappear within 2 years after their appearance. Approximately the same duration of the usual treatment by a psychoanalyst, and approximately the same percentage of cure …

G. Eysenck and J. Wilson add that they could not find in these works «no research about which one could say:» here is a confirmation of this or that case from Freud’s theory. They add that «None of these studies allow any other interpretation to be discarded, none have been done with appropriate experimentation and supported by statistical data with patient selection to be made public» (Eysenck G. J. Forty years later: a new look on the Problems of Efficiency in Psychotherapy // Psychological Journal, Vol. 14, 1994. No. 4, pp. 3-19. B. N. Bezdenezhnykh.

“Speaking in favor of the ineffectiveness of psychoanalytic treatment is the fact that, in its major health reform, the Clinton administration does not provide for damages in cases of psychoanalysis, since, in the own words of Dr. F. Goodwin, president of the National American Institute of Mental Health, “you can’t pay for it. It cannot be refunded as there is nothing to prove that it works.»

The American Association for the Advancement of Sciences made a request to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for an opinion on Freudian psychoanalysis, which was made by F. J. Sulloway and his group. Their conclusions, as presented by P. Debri Ritzen, are very instructive: “Psychoanalysis arose as a result of obsolete erroneous biological hypotheses that prompted Freud to erect his “building” on the sand. It killed the theory in the bud. In terms of the clinic methodological gaps are obvious. The cultural and social influence of psychoanalysis has been intrusive, thanks to the almost religious belief of its followers. The cases on which Freud developed his system are based mainly on false and erroneous observations in favor of his interpretation. In reality, there were no cures” (Gwenael Verez. Mother and Spirituality: Confiscated Truth http://www.sacrum.ru/Modern/Froid.htm).

In some cases, for example, in the case of psychoanalytic treatment of cancer patients, this approach gave clearly expressed negative results (Eysenck G. J. Forty years later: a new look at the problems of effectiveness in psychotherapy // Psychological journal. T. 14. 1994. No. 4 pp. 3-19 Methodological and theoretical problems of psychology © 1994 G. J. Eisenk Translated from English by B. N. Bezdenezhnykh, Candidate of Medical Sciences. _new_view_on_the_efficacy_problems_in_psychotherapy).

What kind of people and what kind of society did Freud describe?

It seems that Freud’s theory was somehow adequate to that historical era and to the patients that he then had. Mostly, his patients were exalted and hysterical women who were on bad terms with their parents, who had a «fad» in the field of sexuality. Successful, mentally and spiritually developed individuals did not turn to Freud and, moreover, bypassed him. Freudianism is not about them.

The long-term impact of psychoanalysis on society

The influence of Z. Freud on European society and culture is enormous, and in many ways negative. It seems that Freud did not so much remove the taboos from talking about sex as he created a «strawberry», offered the people a new entertainment — a previously forbidden «delicious» topic, which can now be «savored».

His statements:

• about the priority of sexual attraction over any other human aspirations,
• that every boy wanted or wants the death of his father,
• that love is just a neurosis in disguise,
• that there are no mentally healthy people, there are only people who more or less successfully coped with their complexes — in general, they neuroticized European culture.

“The significance of Freud for Western intellectual and popular culture is enormous and sometimes catastrophic: it weakened the position of rationalism (any behavior, including intellectual behavior, is interpreted primarily from the point of view of subconscious motivation), rooted in the general public the idea of ​​​​children’s sexuality (as a result of which became the sexualization of mass culture — although who said that this consequence should be considered catastrophic?), reduced the sense of personal responsibility (a person blames his parents, not himself, for his problems) ”(Mikhail Daniel. Sigmund Freud: non-anniversary notes. Source — Russian Journal Based on materials from publications by Anthony Daniels, Roger Scruton and Frank Coffey http://archive.psychologos.ru/Sigmund_Freud:_Anniversary_Notes).

How to relate to the legacy of Sigmund Freud? It is normal if everyone has their own personal attitude, the main thing is that it be deliberate and justified. Empty enthusiasm is just as unproductive as baseless criticism. In any case, the legacy of Sigmund Freud should be treated with great care and attention — this is our history, and we have the opportunity to learn from this rich history. It is respectable that some of the most serious criticisms of Freudianism are made by psychoanalysts themselves. As Academician M.M. Reshetnikov, President of the National Federation of Psychoanalysis: “We know that our knowledge is not obvious. And often — it is not clear to representatives of other areas of psychology and medicine. So far, in fact, nothing has been opposed to their negativism. We are not opposed. The long-standing narcissistic position of psychoanalysts clearly does not justify itself. We need to overcome our isolation from academia.» If we work with open eyes, if we study, then we are definitely on the right track (M.M. Reshetnikov. The period of illusions and hopes: conceptual approaches of the National Federation of Psychoanalysis. To the problem of psychoanalytic education and training in Russia. Report by M. Reshetnikov 2001 year http://skeptic-ratio.narod.ru/ps/address.htm).