, anxiety, and tension were excessive, the mind was said to suffer trauma. The aim of psychotherapy was to undo or heal this trauma (usually taking the form of fixations, regressions, and/or repressions).
Freud believed that most trauma to the mind occurred in the first five years and memories of it were, for the most part, repressed. This repression had to be stopped and the trauma viewed and analyzed by the conscious mind. According to Pervin and John (2000) Freud's basic methods for healing this trauma were: (1) cathartic hypnosis; (2) free association; and (3) dream interpretation. All of these were applied toward the goal of surfacing past trauma to consciousness. Henrick (1934) reported that as Freudian theory evolved this goal changed in that Freud realized that not only must the repressed trauma be made conscious but also the patient needed insight into the wishes and conflicts that had remained hidden.
In general then, Freud viewed the human mind as a process of energy associated with particular structures (id, ego and superego) with the single objective of obtaining pleasure while avoiding pain. Blockage of this energy (through frustration/thwarting) led to trauma and produced psychopathology. Psychotherapy undid the trauma by using specific methods to help the client consciously access the repressed elements of the trauma. Thus, for Freud, psychotherapy was a process of discovery and learning.
Although they remained within the general psychoanalytic school of psychology, there were those who challenged Freudian theory. According to Hall, Lindzey and Campbell (1997), two early challengers to Freudian views were Alfred Adler and Carl. C. Jung, both of which split away from Freud because they felt that his perspective far too heavily emphasized sexual instincts. In this regard, Hall et. al stated that Adler's view of the human being and factors producing normal development or psychopathology was more centered arou...