Those who are somewhat unfamiliar with psychoanalytic psychology generally consider Sigmund Freud to be some strange psychologist that was all-too-fixated on weird sexuality theories. There is some truth to that concept, in that he was excessively (to a point) fixated on the sexual development of children, as well as the founder of many disturbing theories about the way that people may be subconsciously attracted to people who would be considered “taboo” by society. I must admit that some of the things that this man theorized were strange and downright creepy, but it is a shame that the rest of his work is tainted because of this concept.

Freud was the pioneer of psychoanalytical psychology. This means that he was the first person to come forward with claims that posited that there were subconscious realms of thought that people could not voluntarily access. He believed that this occurred because the material in the subconscious was oftentimes too disturbing for the individual to be aware of on their own. There has been research that has since then supported the concept of the subconscious being present, and is now typically considered common knowledge, regardless of what background someone may have in psychological studies.

Much of what we now know about dream analysis, word association, and subconscious motives is derived from the theories of Freud. Without his work, the findings of this genre of psychology would likely be delayed to a point that is impossible to measure. Not to mention that Carl Jung, another one of the most famous psychologists to date, was actually a student of Freud’s. I think it’s just important to remember that although he had some strange theories about psychological development, that that is not justification to neglect the brilliant findings that he set forth for the future of the field of psychology.