Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) is most often mentioned today in relation to psychology and psychiatry, but he had little no training in these fields. In reality he was a well-respected neurologist who developed an approach to human behavior known as psychoanalysis. Freud was a man of enormous learning and huge capacities and talents. His writings, which fill up about 30 volumes, cover all aspects of human experience, culture, and history.
The creation of psychoanalysis offered at once a theory of the human psyche, a proposed treatment system for the relief of its ills, and a method for the interpretation of culture and society. Despite repeated criticisms and rejections of Freud’s work, its influence remained powerful well after his death and in some fields far removed from psychology as it is narrowly defined.
Freud was trained as a physician and was drawn to neurology and psychiatry, but he was always more interested in theory than in practice. After starting his work with neurotic...
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Beit-Hallahmi, B. (2014). Freud, Sigmund. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_252
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