The origin of history of Psychoanalysis is related to the life of its founder, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Freud used elements observed around him as a basis for creating his theories on the human mind and behavior. Freud sought to understand and explain the genesis of hysteria, psychosis and neurosis. He also made explanations of what he called the composition of the human mind. All these studies and the methods of therapiesby him resulted in Psychoanalysis.

In elaborating his studies, Freud came across human sexuality, from which he created the concept of the unconscious, which would be one of the parts of the human mind. The constitution of the human psychic apparatus, the Oedipus complex, analysis, the concept of libido, the theory of incompleteness. These are some of the important formulations proposed by Freud in the early days of the history of Psychoanalysis These have helped in its diffusion in the most varied media and in diversified fields of study.

The Origins of Psychoanalysis

The whole basic conceptualization of psychoanalysis as we know it is undoubtedly initiated at the end of the 19th century, through Freud and his tutors and collaborators. Therefore, it is necessary to review the trajectory of Freud, founder or father of psychoanalysis considering the historical characters that helped him develop the initial ideas of his science.

A doctor by training at the University of Vienna in 1881, Freud trained as a specialist in psychiatry, showing himself to be a renowned neurologist. And in the midst of his medical practice, he began to encounter patients affected by "nervous problems," which raised certain questions, given the "limitation" of conventional medical treatment.

With this, between 1885 and 1886, Freud went to Paris to do an internship with the French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot which seemed to demonstrate success in treating symptoms of mental illness through the use of hypnosis.

For Charcot, these patients, who claimed to be hysterical, were affected by mental disorders caused by abnormalities in the nervous system, an idea that influenced Freud to think of new treatment possibilities.

Hypnotic suggestion, Charcot and Breuer: the beginnings of psychoanalysis

Back in Vienna, Freud begins treating his patients with symptoms of nervous disorders by hypnotic suggestion. In this technique, the physician induces a change in the patient's state of consciousness and then conducts an investigation among the patient's connections and behaviors that might establish any relationship with the presented symptom.

In this state, one realizes that, by the doctor's suggestion, it is possible to bring about the appearance and disappearance of this and other physical symptoms. However, Freud is still immature in his technique and then seeks between 1893 and 1896 to ally himself with the respected physician Josef Breuer, who discovered that it was possible to reduce the symptoms of mental illness simply by asking patients todescribe their fantasies and hallucinations.

With the use of hypnosis techniques it was possible accessing traumatic memories more easily and by giving voice to these thoughts, hidden memories were brought to the conscious level, which allowed the disappearance of the symptom (COLLIN et al., 2012).

Emblematically, these ideas were possible to develop through the treatment of a patient known as the Anna O. case, the first experience that we can consider as successful of this psychotherapeutic treatment system.

Thus, Freud and Breuer began working together, developing and popularizing a treatment technique that would allow the release of affections and emotions linked to past traumatic events through the remembrance of the scenes experienced, which culminated in the disappearance of the symptom. This technique was called cathartic method .

All this experience made possible the joint publication of Studies on hysteria (1893-1895).

I want information to enroll in the Psychoanalysis Course .

The Beginning of Psychoanalysis and its historical context

In 1896, Freud uses, for the first time, the term Psychoanalysis Thus, to fragment the patient's speech/thought in order to capture the latent contents and, from there, to better observe the meanings and implications present in the patient's speech.

As the technique progressed, some points of disagreement appeared between Freud and Breuer, especially in Freud's emphasis on the patient memories and the sexual origins and contents of childhood .

Thus, in 1897 Breuer broke with Freud, who went on to develop the ideas and techniques of psychoanalysis, abandoning hypnosis and using the technique of concentration, in which recall was performed through normal conversation, giving voice to the patient in a non-directed way.

According to Freud:

"When, in our first interview, I asked my patients if they remembered what had originally caused the symptom in question, in some cases they said they knew nothing about it, while in others they brought up something they described as an obscure memory and could not go on. [...] I became insistent - when they were assured that they actuallyAfter that I became even more insistent: I told the patients to lie down and deliberately close their eyes in order to "concentrate"-which had at least some resemblance to hypnosis. I noticed then that without any hypnosis, there would appearExperiences like these made me think that it was indeed possible to bring to light, by mere insistence, the pathogenic groups of representations that were after all certainly present" (FREUD, 1996, p. 282-283).

Origin, History, and Future of Psychoanalysis

The theories created by Freud, at the beginning of the 20th century, have spread to numerous areas of knowledge. The Interpretation of Dreams ", in the early 1900s.

By now, many of us have heard about various concepts created by Freud, mostly in the early history of psychoanalysis However, when he launched his first theories, they were difficult to accept among the scholars of psychology and academia.

Furthermore, to understand the history of psychoanalysis, it is necessary to understand the historical context of the moment itself. The First World War (1914-1918), for example, ended up contributing to its diffusion. When psychoanalysis was used to treat people involved in the war and the neurosis caused by it.

Austria's own cultural environment, the illuminist context following the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution, the psychiatric, neurophysiological, sociological, anthropological knowledge, among others, that was being developed and explored at the time.

I want information to enroll in the Psychoanalysis Course .

Freud's maturity and the psychoanalytic trajectory

All this contributed to Freud's observations, studies, and his first creations, in which he identified mental phenomena beyond those perceptible by consciousness.

Freud theorized that our mind possesses the conscious, the preconscious and the unconscious .

This whole course allowed Freud to improve his psychoanalytic technique. From hypnosis, through cathartic method and, by an interim practice known as " pressure technique "This technique consisted of Freud pressing the foreheads of patients in an attempt to bring the unconscious contents to consciousness, a method soon abandoned because he identified resistance and defenses on the part of the patient.

Until the emergence of free association method In this method, the individual brought his contents to the session, without any judgment. Freud investigated, analyzed and interpreted them. He used to his advantage the fluctuating attention (concept employed by Freud for the listening technique), in an attempt to relate speech to contents submerged in the unconscious.

Gradually, local psychoanalytic traditions were formed, and analysts appeared in cities such as Budapest, London, and Zurich, going beyond the personal and direct bond with Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis.

Two great moments marked Freud's work:

First Topic : the instances of mind are conscious, unconscious, and preconscious.

Second Topic : the instances of mind are ego, id, and superego.

The Acceptance of Psychoanalysis

Because it was revolutionary and broke taboos and concepts, acceptance was difficult, especially in the early years of the history of psychoanalysis. In addition, Freud lived in a bourgeois capitalist and patriarchal society, where women were very oppressed. This contributed to the fact that many of his theories were not immediately accepted.

Even though theological explanations no longer satisfied the understanding of reality at the time, and science was gaining more and more ground in the understanding of human pathologies and behavior. Many of Freud's theories, such as the development of child sexuality They caused conflicting views at the time they were released.

Freud's theories began to be elaborated a few years before the publication of his book " The Interpretation of Dreams "At that time, psychic aspects were not considered as scientific aspects. This meant that nervous or psychic illnesses were not respected by physicians. They only paid attention to what could be materially proven or what was measurable.

Freud also developed concepts about libido, erotic energy that makes life possible. Besides uniting individuals for the purpose of reproduction, for Freud, libido could represent hidden desires that, when not satisfied, reflect in some way in people's lives. Freud conceptualized the sublimation which is to use the energy of the libido for socially accepted purposes, such as art, study, religion, etc.

Due to his medical background, Freud devoted himself to investigations of the psyche, with a strong influence from biology. Although some positivists considered Psychoanalysis as philosophy, Freud developed something beyond this, creating a scientific theory.

Main characteristics of Psychoanalysis

Understanding psychoanalytic characteristics is important to understand the history of psychoanalysis. Freud created a new way of seeing man, founding a new area of knowledge. His theories regarding the unconscious, childhood, neuroses, sexuality, and human relationships .

All this has helped to better understand the human mind and human behavior, and to better understand society.

Contrary to what many people think until today, psychoanalysis is not an area or school of psychology. It is an independent area of knowledge, which emerged as a different way of understanding the human mind. And, consequently, it comes as an alternative to treat psychological distress .

In addition, one of the main factors for the differentiation of Psychoanalysis was the way Freud developed his therapies. The way he proposed to treat people with suffering or psychological pathologies was totally innovative, at the time.

Freud had the sensitivity to listen to the speech of the hysteric and the testimonies of his patients. Thus, he learned what the speech of people had to teach him. This was the basis for him to create his therapy and, along with it, the theory and ethics of psychoanalysis.

Freud saw the human brain and mind as phenomenologically identical. He was concerned with the neurophysiological model, with hydrostasis, and with thermodynamics.

These concepts he studied were used as the basis for the creation of his model theory of the unconscious, establishing the centrality of the concepts of repression and drive. Drive is his theory to try to explain the transformation of stimuli into psychic elements.

From this theory, Freud created several formulations, among them the development of the libido, representation, resistance, transference, countertransference, and defense mechanisms.