A Study in Female Melodrama

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Running head: A STUDY IN FEMALE MELODRAMA Diagnostic evaluation of "A Dangerous Method" a study in female melodrama Cxxxx Hxxxxx University xxxxxxx PSY 430 Professor JR November 2012 Intro to Psychopathology A Dangerous Method is a 2011 historical based film directed by David Cronenberg. It stars Keira Knightley, Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, and Vincent Cassel. This movie originates from a screenplay adapted by playwright Christopher Hampton from his own stage play, The Talking Cure, 2002. The Talking Cure was based on the 1993 non-fiction book by John Kerr, A Most Dangerous Method: The story of Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, and Sabina Spielrein. This film provides it's viewers with a clear insight into the early studies of Psychology. More important, the birth of psychoanalysis, established by Sigmund Freud. Set in 1904,on the eve of World War I, A Dangerous Method describes the turbulent relationships between Dr. Carl Jung, founder of analytical psychology, Dr. Sigmund Freud, founder of the discipline of psychoanalysis, and Sabina Spielrein. Sabina was originally a patient of Dr. Jung and then a physician, one of the first female psychoanalysts. This paper will analyze the films behavior content. It will discuss several psychological scenarios and demonstrated symptoms portrayed in the movie, including psychotic hysteria, conversion disorder, masochism, and transference. The film opens with Sabina Spielrein en route to the Burghölzli, a preeminent psychiatric hospital in Zurich. Arriving in a horse drawn carriage, she is in a hysterical state while being physically restrained. Immediately upon arrival Sabina is assigned to a young Swiss doctor named Carl Jung, who has recently adopted a revolutionary new behavior therapy introduced by Dr. Sigmund Freud. Dr. Jung explains to Sabina that they will
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