Evaluate The Extent To Which Freud's Theory Of Psy

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Marisa Farrell "Evaluate the extent to which Freud's theory of psychosexual development can help us to understand a client's presenting issue" (2462 Words) Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was an Austrian physician who pioneered the study of the unconscious. He was the first person in his field that began the use of non medical methods to deal with human conditions. It was during his neurological practice with hysterical patients that he first noticed that his patients were relieved from their symptoms by simply recollecting and talking about painful childhood experiences. Freud went on to spend much of his life developing an intricate and controversial theory on personality development. Central to Freud's theory, and perhaps his greatest contribution to psychology, is the notion that our psyche is composed of parts within our awareness and beyond our awareness. Freud used the term psychoanalysis to label his theories and techniques for identifying and curing the mental problems of his patients. This essay will outline the main concepts that surround Freud’s theory of psychosexual development, thus showing how it can help us understand our clients presenting issues. In order for me to do this I will firstly describe the psychosexual stages in relation to personality development followed by briefly identifying some of the main criticisms. I will lastly concentrate on discussing the applications of his theory to therapy today. Freud devised the best known and arguably the most widely studied and universally talked about of all the personality theories. Central to his ideology was the belief that instinctual biological urges, primarily sexual and aggressive are the forces that motivate every aspect of an individual’s behaviour. One of the fundamental notions in Freud’s theory, concerning his view of human personality, is the
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