Basic Freud : psychoanalytic thought for the twenty first century

In *Basic Freud*, noted psychologist Michael Kahn shows that, even in the age of psychopharmaceuticals and cognitive therapy, Freud's insights into the unconscious remain unsurpassed tools for understanding our behaviors, motivations, and emotions. In a style accessible to any lay reader or beginning student in psychology, Kahn presents key ideas such as the Oedipus complex, the repetition compulsion, guilt, anxiety, and defense mechanisms, along with recent research that has supported or expanded Freud's findings. He also presents case studies from his own work as a psychotherapist to show how Freudian thought has been instrumental in helping patients discover who they are and escape from destructive patterns. Readers aware of Freud's ideas and those discovering them for the first time will benefit from Kahn's fresh, informed, and unpretentious approach. In a style accessible to any lay reader or beginning student in Freudian psychology, Kahn presents key ideas such as the Oedipus complex, the repetition compulsion, guilt, anxiety, and defense mechanisms, along with research that has supported or expanded on Freud's findings CONTENTS PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 2 THE UNCONSCIOUS 3 PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT 4 THE OEDIPUS COMPLEX 5 THE REPETITION COMPULSION 6 ANXIETY 7 THE DEFENSE MECHANISMS 8 GUILT 9 DREAMS 10 GRIEF AND MOURNING 11 TRANSFERENCE 12 CONCLUSION NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX A clinical psychologist offers an introduction to Freud's view of the human psyche, including discussion of the unconscious, the Oedipus complex, the repetition compulsion, anxiety, guilt, dreams, and transference. It's not hard to find things to criticize in Freud's work.