Dr. Juliet Mitchell and Adam Phillips discuss the continuing relevance of psychoanalysis in the 20th century. They explore Freud's impact on arts, history, and psychology, and question if psychoanalysis has failed to adapt to a science-dominated age. Topics include the challenges of evaluating psychoanalysis scientifically, Freud's theories on childhood development, and the significance of learning to speak in emotional comprehension and human behavior.
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Quick takeaways
Psychoanalysis has influenced various disciplines and art forms since Freud's time.
Psychoanalysis needs reevaluation to adapt to the contemporary dominance of science and move forward.
Deep dives
The ongoing relevance of psychoanalysis and the need for scrutiny
Psychoanalysis, influenced by Freud's book The Interpretation of Dreams, has had a significant impact on various disciplines such as arts, history, anthropology, psychology, and science. However, in the 20th century, psychoanalysis has become fragmented and overly focused on the past. There is a need for intelligent scrutiny of psychoanalysis to determine its worth and accessibility for people of different financial means.
Evaluating psychoanalysis and the challenge of the private nature of therapy
Evaluating psychoanalysis is challenging due to the privacy of therapy sessions. Only the participants truly know what happens in a psychoanalysis session, limiting the ability to objectively evaluate it. However, people can share their experiences and reflections on psychoanalysis, contributing to a wider understanding of its effects and benefits. While psychoanalysis differs from scientific fields in terms of testability, the development of a broader view of science can accommodate the unique aspects of psychoanalysis.
The complexity of psychoanalytic techniques and the role of the analyst
Psychoanalysis involves a complex process of free association and accessing unconscious modes of thinking. The analyst helps guide the patient through this process, intervening at meaningful moments and persuading them to explore their thoughts and associations. The purpose of the interventions is to promote moral education and convince the patient of new perspectives. However, there is a diversity of views on how to conduct psychoanalysis, and the question of authority and authoritative voices remains central.
Psychoanalysis and the importance of pain and difficulty
Psychoanalysis acknowledges the significance of pain in the therapeutic process. Painful experiences and difficulties are often protected and avoided through symptoms and unconscious processes. The difficulty of psychoanalysis is commensurate with the pain that individuals have been avoiding. However, psychoanalysis also recognizes that managing pleasure can be just as challenging as managing pain. Viewing psychoanalysis as a process of managing pain oversimplifies its purpose and detracts from the complexity of human experiences.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the relevance of psychoanalysis at the end of the 20th century. It’s 100 years since Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, a term which he coined, published The Interpretation of Dreams. Sixty years after his death, Freud’s influence and the influence of that book, has been felt in the 20th century in everything from the arts, history and anthropology, to of course psychology and even science. Dreams have inspired political speeches, songs, and seduction, captivating and fascinating mankind since time immemorial. For Sigmund Freud, they were the key to unlocking the working of the unconscious. But at the end of the 20th century, has psychoanalysis become too fractured and too insistent on privileging the past over the present to go forward into the future? Has it failed to develop and adapt to an age increasingly dominated by science? With Dr Juliet Mitchell, psychoanalyst, Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, Department of Political and Social Sciences; Adam Phillips, psychoanalyst and author of The Beast in the Nursery.
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