A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis

‘This series of 28 lectures was delivered by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the founder of psychoanalysis, during World War I and published for the first time in English in 1920. The purpose of this general introduction was to present his work and ideas ¿as they had evolved at that point¿ to a large audience; and even though there was to be considerable development and change over the following years, these lectures still offer a valuable and remarkably approachable entry point to his revolutionary concepts. The talks are divided into three sections: ¿The Psychology of Errors¿ (which later became known as ¿Freudian Slips¿), ¿The Dream¿ (his broad views on interpretation), and ¿General Theory of Neuroses¿. Within these divisions appear many of his concepts that have found their way into the wider consciousness of modern man ¿the key role of sex in forming our thoughts and behavior, the Oedipus complex, the libido, sublimation, fixation, regression and suppression, and the unconscious. He was determined to prove how psychoanalysis could help reveal the causes of neuroses and lead to clarity for the patient ¿as opposed to the approach taken by psychiatrists. Freud refers to his early use of hypnotism, which he later discarded, and many more steps that led him to his conclusions that the powerful part played by sexual impulses, often dating back to childhood, pursued individuals into adulthood.’