The Psychoanalytic Approach To Personality

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The Psychoanalytic Approach to Psychology Angela Agcaoili PSY/250 March 27, 2012 Tracy A. Keaton, MS, LPC, NCC The Psychoanalytic Approach to Psychology While Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, and Carl Jung may not be the forefathers of psychology, their theories are still very well-known and discussed among current students of the field, psychologists and even laymen. Their contributions to the field of psychology, especially the psychology of personality, are innumerable, and while we have learned much more and some of their views have been disproven, they have taught us much about the field. Some of their theories are similar and there are also some obvious differences. Carl Jung was a fan of Sigmund Freud and sent him a copy of his book in 1906. After this, the two men became close friends and studied and worked together for several years. In 1912 the two men separated mostly because they could not agree on the theory of the unconscious mind and religion. Jung believed that Freud was too focused on sexuality as a motivating force and that his theory of the unconscious was too negative and limited. While Freud believed that the unconscious was where we kept all sexual repression, Jung believed that there was also creativeness that could be found in the unconscious. After the split, Jung went on to develop his own school of thought called analytical psychology. Jung’s theory differed from Sigmund Freud’s in that his theory held two levels of the unconscious. The first level is the personal unconscious. This level is made up of forgotten and repressed memories. The second level is where the difference between Freud and Jung are really evident and this level is called the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious is made up of the past of the entire species. According to Jung, it is largely responsible for myths, legends and religious
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