Sigmund Freud

Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis (1856–1939). Developed a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue, free association, and the interpretation of dreams, slips, and symptoms.

Founder of psychoanalysis: the unconscious, repression, dreams, drives, and a cultural critique that still shapes how we think about the self.

Short Bio

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) trained as a neurologist and became the founder of psychoanalysis, a method and theory of mind centered on the unconscious, repression, and symbolic meaning in dreams, symptoms, and everyday slips. Working first with hypnosis and hysteria, he developed free association, the analysis of transference, and a structural model of the psyche (id, ego, superego). Major works include The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1920), and Civilization and Its Discontents (1930).^[1][2][3]

Key Contributions

The Unconscious & Repression: mental life includes wishes and conflicts outside awareness that shape behavior.^[2]
Dream Theory: dreams as the “royal road” to the unconscious; manifest vs. latent content.^[3]
Structure (Id–Ego–Superego): dynamic agencies mediating drives, norms, and reality.^[2]
Psychosexual Development: stages and fixations shaping character and symptom formation.
Culture & Religion: tension between instinct and civilization; religion as illusionary consolation.^[6][9]

Practical Tips

Dream log: on waking, write the dream as remembered (manifest content). Later, free-associate possible meanings without forcing.
Slip awareness: when a slip of the tongue or action occurs, pause and ask what wish or anxiety it might express.
Inner conflict map: name the voices: “Id wants X; Superego forbids Y; Ego negotiates Z.” Note patterns over a week.
Free association drill: 5 minutes of unedited writing or speaking; circle recurring themes or images.
Transference check: in recurring relationship tensions, ask: “Whom am I talking to in my head right now?”

Reflection

For a month I tracked small slips and dreams. Patterns surfaced: a recurring classroom, a misnaming at work, a joke that landed too sharply. Following the thread did not feel like reduction, but relief: motives became less mysterious, choices less automatic.

Articles

Sigmund Freud — Unconscious Life, Dreams, and the Work of Culture

A long-form synthesis of Freud’s life and ideas — unconscious dynamics, dream theory, drives, and the tension between instinct and civilization — with practical drills for self-observation.

Reflections

Slips, Dreams, and the Small Honest Pause — A Freudian Reflection

For a month I tracked small slips and dreams. Patterns surfaced: a recurring classroom, a misnaming at work, a joke that landed too sharply…