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Evaluate the Extent to Which Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual Development Can Help Us to Understand a Client’s Presenting Issues”

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Evaluate the extent to which Freud’s theory of psychosexual development can help us to understand a client’s presenting issues”

This essay will look into Freud’s psychosexual theory and will describe how it relates to adult neurotic behaviour. The essay will then look at some of the criticisms he had. Psychoanalysis, begun in the 1900s with Sigmund Freud being hailed the Father. Freud's theories of psychosexual stages, the unconscious, and dream symbolism remain a popular topic among both psychologists and laypersons, despite the fact that his work is viewed with skepticism by many today. 1
Many of Freud's observations and theories were based on clinical cases and case studies, making his findings difficult to generalise to a larger population. Regardless, Freud's theories changed how we think about the human mind and behavior and left a lasting mark on psychology and culture.
Another theorist associated with psychoanalysis is Erik Erikson. Erikson expanded upon Freud's theories and stressed the importance of growth throughout the lifespan. Erikson's psychosocial stage theory of personality remains influential today in our understanding of human development . 2
The aims, which are similar to psychodynamics with psychodynamics commencing in the 1940’s. Psychodynamics continues as a discipline in its own right, and could be viewed as the child of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is a lengthy form of therapy whereas psychodynamics is often shorter. There are three main schools within the term psychoanalysis, which are Classical, kleinian and Union. The Kleinian School is named after Melanie Reizes Klein an Austrian born British psychoanalyst. She was a leading innovator of Object relations’ theory and was innovative in working directly with children and observing them at play. Which has been argued against with Freud as he did not

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