Freud: A Fanatical Fraud?
As I sat down on a couch in the basement of Shriver Center one day after class to read Freud’s analysis of Dora, I thought I knew what to expect. I had taken an Advanced Placement (“AP”) Psychology course in high school, and we had some “interesting” discussions about Freud and his psychoanalytic theories. Among the discussions were his obsessions with sex; my assumption was that this book would follow suit and that his analysis of Dora would contain much dialogue about Dora’s libido. I wasn’t too surprised when my expectations were confirmed already on page two when he stated, “sexual questions will be discussed with all possible frankness” (2). Therefore, I reasoned that much of the rest of the book would be along the same lines—that all of Dora’s problems stemmed from some sort of sexual drive within her. At the same time, I also expected the book to be very intriguing; after all, the back of the cover gives it the description of a “first-rate detective novel.” I expected to see a mystery unraveling in front of my very eyes as this master sleuth put together clues from his discussions with Dora, to uncover the secret of her inner workings. This was going to be a book that I,
In the remainder of the first chapter Freud gives an overview of Dora’s general condition. In it, he explains the history of his case, his relationship with Dora, her background, and stumbling blocks he incurred while writing the case report. He explains his struggles with figuring out what kind of information to include about his patient, as to protect her identity. Additionally he includes information about when he actually recorded the proceedings of the sessions, which lasted approximately 3 months, he had with Dora. Apparently Freud took no notes during the treatments, but instead waited until afterwards, so he would not “disturb the patient’s confidence” in sharing (4). After reading this statement I wasn’t sure if the following analysis of Dora was reliable. It seemed untrustworthy to believe that Freud remembered conversations exactly as they occurred or give accurate descriptions with as much detail as he did without taking notes. It was for this reason that I looked at the book with a great deal of caution and mistrust and was not ready to simply accept anything that he said, whether causes for her problems or even recounting what she’d said, but rather questioned its validity. Overall, I interpreted Freud’s analysis of Dora’s “hysteria” as a an innovative attempt at finding a cure that failed because it wasn’t employed specifically to help her, but rather to prove a theory. I believe that Freud’s treatment of Dora’s case in general was poor and showed little professional integrity (as far as maintaining the patient’s anonymity, and seeking the patient’s permission before publication). However, his ability to think along different lines to diagnose and treat hysteria did lead to many leaps in the field of psychiatry. So although his treatment of Dora’s case was a failure, perhaps his contribution to the field of psychiatry could be considered a success. When I tackled the second chapter, I was just as thrilled with the reading material as I was during the first (extremely sarcastic). Here he begins to talk about the actual procedures that he took in treating Dora’s hysteria. He speaks about the theories behind some of her thoughts, relationships and behaviors. However, while reading this I got the impression that he was trying to further his own ideas more than to actuall
Some topics in this essay:
Oedipal Complex,
Kim Morrissey’s,
Advanced Placement,
Apparently Freud,
Dora Herr,
Shriver Center,
Fanatical Fraud,
morrissey’s play,
treatment dora’s,
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methods treatment,
treat hysteria,
dream interpretation,
relationship dora,
field psychiatry,
freud’s analysis,
dora’s condition,
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Approximate Word count = 1577
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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