Sigmund Freud has been called the father of psychotherapy. His studies and views on how personality develops and is affected by different experiences or exposures to stimuli have been disputed and discussed for over 100 years. This paper will highlight Freud's life and theories as well as answer two questions. These two questions are; did Freud sexually abuse children and did Freud have a personal vendetta against women?
Life and Times Sigmund Freud was born in 1856 to a Jewish Family and grew up in Freiberg, Moravia which is now a part of the Czech Republic. Freud was the eldest of eight children from his mother and had older half-brothers from his father's previous marriage. The family was very poor, but realizing Freud's outstanding intellect, every effort was made to ensure that Sigmund obtain the best education possible. As a result, Freud was able to graduate from the University of Vienna at the age of 17 (Wikipedia, 2007). Attempts to learn of Freud's early life have been ineffective and evidence to support that Freud destroyed all personal affects of his early life and family life has been found. In 1886, after studying medicine in France, Freud returned to Vienna and began the study of brain disorders and nervous conditions. This is where Freud developed his theory of "free association". He would sometimes hypnotize his patients, but most often he would put the patients on his couch and encourage them to speak of whatever was in their heart and mind (Wikipedia, 2007). While in his 40s Freud, himself, experienced many phobias and fears that he attempted to diagnosis on his own. He had a strong fear of dying and found his dreams may give the answers to his thoughts and feelings. Attempting self-analysis, Freud found that his anger towards his father was because of his sexual attraction to his mother. This time has been thought, by many experts, to be Freud's most creative and visual part of his life (Wikipedia, 2007). Freud
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