Sigmund Freud and His Unique Approach in Psychology

Sigmund Freud, known by his unique approach to psychology really did intrigue me with his approach and views. The separation between the conscious. And the unconscious has always been something that really draws me. In and so i found that the Freudian approach was really interesting yet unique. As the Freudian view says, one’s personality is greatly influenced. And explained by one’s childhood and the experiences one goes through while developing and growing up. Many hidden behaviours, or the way we are, as sigmund says, is due to the way we were raised. Someone who was in a car accident when small. Could develop anxiety towards vehicles when older or could demonstrate distress towards similar events. Furthermore as the Freudian theory states, human behaviour is based on three interrelated concepts of the mind known. As the superego, the ego, and the self.

These three concepts can be separated into what is known as consciousness which is related to the super ego. Described as one’s moral compass or the learning of one’s mind in relation to its environment such as society. The Ego, which is both conscious and unconscious, described as the mediator, creating the balance between the superego which is external and the Id which is internal. Last is the Id, which is the unconscious component, focused on purely instincts, which is because the Id is the most primitive part of our minds, and so it is focused on our instinct to stay alive and well, and does not regard nor take into consideration what the response to external properties may be. Freud also believed in something called the psychosexual stages of development in which he described that during our childhood and growing as an individual, we each pass through 5 set of stages.

He stated that during each of these stages, divided as the oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital stages, we are subject to test is a sense, in which if we do not pass these tests, or don’t have sufficient exposure to something in particular related to that stage, we may become stuck or affected by the lack of completion which in the end will affect our way of thinking. If the stage is successfully completed, the mind is healthy. The theory that Freud presents is in my opinion very strong and elaborate, yet i find it to be incomplete or to broad to my point of view. Overall, i do accept his way of thinking, and find logic to his reasoning, but at the same time, i feel that his theory is to structural and lacks flexibility if that makes sense. In regards to our childhood, and his concept behind that, i completely agree that our childhoods are the foundations to the way our mind has been molded. We are who we are very much so because of how we grew up and what happened during those stages of development but what i do not completely agree with either is his psychosexual stages of development which to a certain extent prove themselves logical but in many circumstances, the lack of completion of these stage may not necessarily represent nor explain an unhealthy personality. All in all, as a psychologist or a therapist, i would employ some of the freudian theory, but only to a certain extent as i do not agree with all of his teachings.

That being said, i still feel like i lack a proper understanding of his theory in order for me to properly decide whether i agree or not. There is something about his teachings that seem incomplete to me and that is what makes me hesitant to decide whether i would employ his methods in my personal approach to psychology.

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