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Psychoanalytical Theories Since the 1950s

The history of psychology has seen many changes in its beliefs and methodologies. The great personality theories came out of the early days of Freud and lasted up until the mid 1950s. This paper will look at the what has happened in psychology since that time, and evaluate the effects brought about in clinical psychology and psychological research with the demise of that era.

The great age of personality theories and theories of learning is passed. Though no major theories, as such, have emerged to replace them, there has been considerable movement away from the classical beliefs in more recent years (Oppenheimer, 1984). Psychology has split into several fields of specialization, including social psychology, clinical psychology, developmental psychology, and psychoanalytical psychology. Psychoanalytical theories remain a major point of reference in testing, pathology, and laboratory research, either in efforts to apply them to other fields or to refute them.

Psychoanalysis does not deal with symptoms, but with the unconscious of a subject as a whole, whose psychical apparatus is composed of forces in conflict. Psychoanalytical theory implies a particular technique and attitude which stem from a precise scientific model of nature and empiricism. The exercise consists of discovering a cause and decoding an original unconscious message that is expressed in a distorted state. However, psychological experiments that have attempted to confirm these theories have failed (Oppenheimer, 1984, p. 9).

Interventionism has now returned to psychoanalysis, and is now a directing force in all therapies. Psychoanalysis, which was initially limited to the comprehension and treatment of neuroses, has branched out to cover more serious pathologies, which has lead to the revision of theoretical concepts and the creation of new technical features. The expansion of psychoanalysis and increased understanding of neuroses led to the deve...

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Psychoanalytical Theories Since the 1950s. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 20:57, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1691176.html