Psychopathology

Introduction to the Psychodynamic Approach

In many ways, 1900 was a significant moment in time. Just as we recently experienced "millenium madness", so, too, the turn of the century was seen as a social and cultural landmark. From the perspective of psychology, the discipline was still in its infancy: Wilhelm Wundt had established the first experimental laboratory only 25 years earlier, and William James's Psychology, the first notable general text , had appeared only ten years earlier, in 1890. However, one could argue that even more significant, in terms of ultimate impact on both psychology and society, was the publication in 1900 of Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams.

The Interpretation of Dreams was a landmark, for it represented the first of Freud's books to capture popular as well as academic interest. Scientifically, Freud's ideas about dreaming and other mental processes were often controversial among his peers, and the controversy has not subsided in the 60+ years since his death. Yet whether one accepts or rejects Freud's theory, there is little doubt that psychoanalysis had significant impact. His study of motivation and mental processes laid the foundation for all psychodynamic theories, and changed our culture by changing how we see ourselves.

Understanding just how much our world was changed because of Freud's work can be difficult to grasp, for we are immersed in a world of Freudian concepts. Every time we make reference to doing something "unconsciously", or refer to someone as having a big "ego", we are using Freudian terms. (Most people in our culture in fact find it hard to believe that some cultures have no concept of "unconscious" processes!) As a result, it can be useful to explore the background of Freud's life, and the nature of our culture before his ideas so profoundly altered it.

Resource: http://www.ryerson.ca/~glassman/psychdyn.html

References

Benjamin, L. T., Jr., & Dixon, D. N. (1996) Dream analysis by mail: an American woman seeks Freud's advice, American Psychologist, 51, 461-468.

Freud, S. (1900) The Interpretation of Dreams. Reprinted as Vol. 6 of Strachey, J. (Ed.), The Standard Edition of the Complete Pschological Works of Sigmund Freud. London: Hogarth Press, 1960.

Publications Related to the Psychodynamic Approach
Free Associations: Psychoanalysis and the Public Sphere--On-line journal edited by Robert M. Young of Sheffield University.

International Journal of Psychoanalysis--Provides effective search tools, with some on-line content and access to contents pages in archive.

Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association--Provides archive of contents pages, but not full texts.