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Being the Father of psychoanalysis, Freud is still thought of and recognized as a great influence in the field. that being said, through the modernization of the field, most of his work is no longer used or referenced in the field. Traditional psychoanalysis involved a distancing between therapist and client—the two did not even face each other during the sessions. In recent years, many clients have preferred a more interactive experience with the therapist. The subject matter of Freudian analysis has also fallen into disuse, even among those who still practice psychoanalysis: early childhood receives much less emphasis, and there
is generally more focus on problems the client is currently experiencing. By the early 21st century, various kinds of psychoanalysis continued to be practiced, but the theory and practice of psychoanalysis was increasingly overshadowed by cognitive psychology and discoveries in neurobiology.
Noam Chomsky "liked Fromm's attitudes but thought his work was pretty superficial." In Eros and Civilization Herbert Marcuse is critical of Fromm: in the beginning he was a radical theorist, but later he turned to conformity. Marcuse also noted that Fromm, as well as his close colleagues Sullivan and Karen Horney, removed Freud's libido theory and other radical concepts, which thus reduced psychoanalysis to a set of idealist ethics, which only embrace the status quo. Fromm's response, in both The Sane Society and in The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness, argues that Freud indeed deserves substantial credit for recognizing the central importance of the unconscious, but also that he tended to rectify his own concepts that depicted the self as the passive outcome of instinct and social control, with minimal volition or variability. Fromm argues that later scholars such as Marcuse accepted these concepts as dogma, whereas social psychology requires a more dynamic theoretical and empirical approach.
Today, Freud's method is only one among many types of psychotherapy used in psychiatry. Many objections have been leveled against traditional psychoanalysis, both for its methodological rigidity and for its lack of theoretical rigor. A number of modern psychologists have pointed out that traditional psychoanalysis relies too much on ambiguities for its data, such as dreams and free associations. Without empirical evidence, Freudian theories often seem weak, and ultimately fail to initiate standards for treatment.Critics have also pointed out that Freud's theoretical models arise from a homogeneous sample group—almost exclusively upper-class Austrian women living in the sexually repressed society of the late 19th cent. Such a sample, many psychologists contend, made Freud's focus on sex as a determinant of personality too emphatic. Other problems with traditional psychoanalysis are related to Freud's method of analysis. For Freudian analysis to reach its intended conclusions, the psychoanalyst required frequent sessions with a client over a period of years: today, the prohibitive costs of such methods compels most to seek other forms of psychiatric care.
Group photo 1909 in front of Clark University. Front row: Sigmund Freud, G. Stanley Hall, Carl Jung; back row: Abraham A. Brill, Ernest Jones, Sándor Ferenczi
Throughout Freud's lifetime, and many years later, and very likely in the future, his theories have caused controversy. The main controversy in Freudian Theory revolves around his interpretation on the 3 stages of development. Freudian theory suggests that as a child develops, they go through a series of psychosexual stages. at each stage, the libido's pleasure seeking energy is focused on a different part of the body. a successful completion of each stage leads to a healthy personality as an adult. If, however, a conflict remains unresolved at any particular stage, the individual might remain fixated or stuck at that particular point of development. A fixation can involve an overdependence or obsession with something related to that phase of development. For example, a person with an "oral fixation" is believed to be stuck at the oral stage of development. Signs of an oral fixation might include an excessive reliance on oral behaviors such as smoking, biting fingernails or eating.
Most controversies in Fromm's work revolves around his interpretation of biblical stories. The reason for this, is because he removes the underlining religious nature of these stories, and uses them to support his theories (as he does in his interpretation of the Adam and Eve story). However, due to the fact that most of his work revolves around theories of love and freedom, there is small opportunity to become controversial.
Most of Fromm's work surrounds the question of what makes us human. One of his well know pieces uses the biblical story of Adam and Eve. However, departing from traditional religious orthodoxy on this, Fromm used the story of Adam and Eve as an allegorical explanation for human biological evolution and existential angst, asserting that when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, they became aware of themselves as being separate from nature while still being part of it. This is why they felt "naked" and "ashamed": they had evolved into human beings, conscious of themselves, their own mortality, and their powerlessness before the forces of nature and society, and no longer united with the universe as they were in their instinctive, pre-human existence as animals. According to Fromm, the awareness of a disunited human existence is a source of guilt and shame, and the solution to this existential dichotomy is found in the development of one's uniquely human powers of love and reason. However, Fromm distinguished his concept of love from unreflective popular notions as well as Freudian paradoxical love
Being so influential in his work, the theories Freud had within his life all added up to what is know known as the Freudian Theory. Freudian Theory suggests that our mental states are driven by two competing forces, cathexis and anticathexis. Cathexis was described as an investment of mental energy in a person, an idea or an object, i.e. if you are hungry, you might creat a mental image of food. Anticathexis involves the ego blocking the socially unacceptable needs, i.e. repressing urges and desires. Freud also believed in two driving instincts, life instincts, and death instincts. Most of Freudian Theory revolves around these aspects, more subjects include personality, development, and defense mechanisms.
Sigmund Freud is best known his groundbreaking work in psychoanalysis. Not surprising, seeing as how he is known as the father of the field itself. Freud's aim in psychoanalysis therapy is to release repressed emotions and experiences, i.e. make the unconscious conscious. Psychoanalysis treatments are still used today to treat depression and anxiety disorders.
Related to the psychoanalysis research, Freud also began to study dreams, and became a well known authority on the subject, and became famous for his book "the Interpretation of dreams.
Erich Fromm is best known for his work, Escape from Freedom, focuses on the human urge to seek a source of authority and control upon reaching a freedom that was thought to be an individual’s true desire. Fromm’s critique of the modern political order and capitalist system led him to seek insights from medieval feudalism. concept of freedom as a fundamental part of human nature, as well as his research in the the social unconscious, and humanism. Fromm's best known work is his humanistic philosophy is his interpretation of the biblical story of Adam and Eve's exile from the Garden of Eden. Fromm is also well known, perhaps even better known for his personal criticisms of Freud and Freudian Theory