Simund Freud and The Treatment of Neurosis and Psychosis

â€Å"Cocaine’s a hell of a drug,† as Rick James would say, but who would think it would be used by one of the greatest minds in medicine. Sigmund Freud is known as the founding father of psychoanalysis. His ideas became building the blocks of psychology. He provided many insights on the human mind, and thoughts on how to treat issues in it. It’s kind of hard to believe, seeing that he was probably out his mind half the time. He has helped guide the way for the ideas of psychology today. Sigmund got old along with his ideas. He died, but is his ideas still alive? In this paper, I will research the ideas and methods of Sigmund Freud as it pertains to the treatment of neurosis and psychosis. First, I will explain what psychoanalysis is, along†¦show more content†¦After two busts, Freud was not worried and felt that he was on the brink of finding a method with lasting effects. This is when he developed the method called free association. Free association was a method he developed that allowed him to tap into the patients unconscious mind while the patient was still conscious (Alexander 15). Free association involves the doctor using different techniques or games so the patient responding with the first thing that comes to their mind. This includes word association, ink blots, and just meaningless conversation to catch grammar habits or anything else that could be used to key into an emotional or mental problem. It is used to help dig into a patient’s inner thoughts because the patient wasn’t thinking but letting their unco nscious express itself. The next method Freud discovered was called transference. It’s also believed to be his most important and powerful discovery when it came to fighting the resistance of a patient (Alexander 16-17). Transference is simply the sympathy from the patient to their doctor and it is not just limited to psychoanalysis, but given the emotional intensity of the treatments it is just a powerful bond (Coriat 36-37). For example, if your patient in any medical field has confidence in you than they are more likely to open up to you and trust what you are doing, which in psychoanalysis is very important. Freud called this method transference, because he saw that the patient would transfer their