To better understand Freud's vast work, guidelines are the best way. Once you understand some central points of his work, it's easier to make connections and reflections with the rest. Check out the 15 Freud's main ideas to gain insight into human behavior.

Unconscious

The unconscious stands out as one, if not the biggest, idea in Freud's work Throughout his study with Psychoanalysis, Freud formulated the proposal that there exists an unknown zone in our minds. Even if shrouded in such mystery, it would be possible to observe it through dreams and failures.

Healing through the Word

One of main ideas In short, unlike other approaches of the time, the patient would speak whatever came into his mind while the therapist would only listen. The free association method consists of the patient verbally expressing whatever comes into his mind, including his anguish.

Oedipus Complex

Another of main ideas This is a stage in infancy where the child turns lovingly to one parent while rivaling the other. However, by the age of 5, the child rebalances his ties and welcomes both parents.

Dreams

In Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalysis, main theories and ideas, dreams occupy a high rank. Being recurrent themes in therapy, they are linear passages to better understand our unconscious. Once translated, they can indicate important revelations about us and our lives .

Instances of Mind

The psychic structure of the individual according to Freud is divided into what he called instances. They are like distinct but complementary pieces that define our personality and posture. They are:

Ego

Ego is the instance responsible for bridging the external environment with our inner self. This ends up making it a mediator, since it holds the impulses of the Id and builds our balance.

Superego

Superego represents the figure of morality built on the external environment. It is thanks to it that we limit several of our events and experiences according to what is socially allowed, repressing almost everything.

Id.

Id identifies itself as the liberating and influencing figure of our impulses. It is as if it constantly battles to take control of us and make us give in to our impulses.

Child Sexuality

Being an even sensitive point at the time, the concept of childhood sexuality shocked many scholars when released. The psychosexual development, anal phase and very explicit nomenclatures brought up an uprising against this proposal, which argued that children already understood their sexuality at a young age .

Not only that, but the Freudian proposal understood that the young child is able to know which points give him more pleasure, such as the mouth, anus or genitalia. Freud's psychosexual stages are the oral, anal, phallic, latency period and genital stage.

Transfer

Transference is the act of the patient projecting onto the analyst his or her emotions, thoughts and sensations. This happens because the individual ends up associating him or her with a very important person in his or her life. As you can imagine, this happens towards the parents, unconsciously making the therapist a maternal or paternal figure.

Mental structuring

In explaining the main ideas According to this, there is no normality, but rather varying stages of perversion, psychopathy or neurosis. Normal here is when a person has minimal levels of one of the three.

Complex

Within Freud's main ideas It is as if a person took a patent and made up his mind about it, whether it was good or not. For example, think of the "star complex" to name people who like to show up and be the attraction .

Sublimation

Sublimation is the directing of the libido to objects that are not connected with sex. Basically, you use this force to build something good in your life. For example, think of people who sing, write, make art, dance joyfully, paint, among other activities.

Instinct

This uncontrolled impulse directs the individual so that he can survive. It is activated when an external situation raises the feeling of danger. For example, when we walk down the street at night and find a dark place, instinct moves us to look for the light.

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Diseases of the Mind

Because of the continuous repression we experience throughout life, mental illnesses originate. Society's standards limit the individual's life, forcing him to hide his emotions and desires against judgments. But constantly repressing your wills ends up making your mind's natural cycle sick .

Libido

On Freud's main ideas According to Freud, it is through the libido that we achieve a more complete development.

Pulsion

In Freud's work, drive is seen as physical stimuli that make our minds react. Unlike instinct, here we don't need to connect with something pertaining to survival. In the end, it can be seen as an immediate desire to be attended to as soon as possible.

Levels of our consciousness

To close the Freud's main ideas Allowing it to be better observed, the consciousness is divided into:

Awareness

At this point we have control over our perception of ourselves and reality For example, the thoughts, feelings, words and actions that we mold and disseminate.

Pre-conscious

Being a middle ground, the preconscious connects the light part of the mind with the dark part. Although they are distinct regions, this does not mean that they do not interact. For example, dreams originate in the unconscious that we remember after waking up.

Unconscious

Unconscious is the unknown region of our minds, about which we have little clarity. It is in this field that we send our repressed desires and sensations. But even if they are placed here, these impressions manifest themselves in some way.

Final considerations about Freud's main ideas

Freud's main ideas help map the progress and genius of the individual Freud's biography and main ideas can be found in websites and online libraries for easy access. Regardless of where you find the works, take advantage of the teachings distributed over time.

However, if you want a real dive into Freudian literature, sign up for our 100% online Psychoanalysis course. This chance can help you achieve your improvement and transform you into someone more productive, wiser, and clearer of mind and spirit. Freud's main ideas help formulate the structure of our course, and you will learn each of them .