Hey everyone, I'm Marika, I'm Nathan, and I'm Jen, and today we're going to be delving into the world of psychoanalysis
We'll be introducing you to Dr. Sigmund Freud.
At first we thought we would give you a speech but then we realized that would be too boring. So instead, we decided
to sing you a song.
When you think of Sigmund Freud, tell me, what comes to your mind? Is it
Unconscious sexuality and phalluses combined, with dreams of submarines and tales of Ancient Greeks like no other, like the
King who ripped his eyes out cuz he *really* loved his mother, that's
Oedipus Rex, but I
digress in this respect, See, the great and noble Sigmund has been flayed by the yellow press, since he first
published his theories of hypnosis and the mind, in
1895 he has been all-too-oft consigned, to the
crack-pots of history, the villains of the past, his psychoanalytic theory has been
lambasted like the ass, in Aesop's famous fables
so it's time to turn the tables, stop the myth, re-cock the history as best as we are able, and
Along the way you may just find some things you never knew, about the
new things that he added to the contemporary milieu.
So many things we take for granted were really first proposed,
by Sigmund Freud, they seem so obvious to us now that we know, things like your
Brain contains unconscious planes to which you have no access
and Freud inferred this unconscious from dreams and parapraxes, that is
slips of the tongue, now known as "Freudian slips"
an expression of the Superego, Ego, or the ID, which form the
basis of Freud's personality theory, which recently has gained support from neuroscience, really there's
no field of Psychology, which Freud did not ignite, from Personality to Cognitive and though not always right,
he had the bravery to say unpopular things in his day, like
suggesting that childhood experiences may,
affect Adult personality - I know, it sounds absurd
that such a simple notion had simply not occurred
and to add to Freud's accomplishments and general awesomeness,
he was the first to say that gender-identification is a process, this is
cutting-edge stuff. Debates in CAMH still abound,
not to mention that Freud's impact on clinical practice was profound
Okay, imagine: Let's say Freud's in session with a patient, and he says
Guten-tag Herr Vondeldorff,
there's trouble with the maidservant?
Yes, Dr. Freud,
you see, I just can't seem to be,
completely platonic, it's ironic,
cuz I'm married...
Don't you see?
Ah... Herr Vondeldorff
You may contend that you're just friends,
perhaps pretend you're being tender
if you lend her just the tip from time to time...
But humans are complex and the ins-and-outs of sex are irreducible the catchy words that rhyme
Can't you tell that's just absurd, Reductionism's such as ugly word,
only Psychoanalysis can elucidate your personal
unconscious drives
and your psychic defence,
your urge to purge your "daddy-issues" will emerge as transference, and
your sexual repression manifests in your aggression
that's a concept called "displacement", it's a common expression of the
underlying psychological conflict,
whether anally retentive or emotionally restrictive,
here's a complex theory, now there's no need to be leery, clearly
here's a way to live without committing harikiri,
Its philosophy for life to give you insights to your mental, comprehensive and complete, system relief is incidental
So I may fain suggest my dear Herr Vondeldorff, your next appointment
I have booked next week, my secretary will expect to see you
Regularly, if you'd like to see some good progression...
I'd give it ten or twenty years
of these expensive
therapy sessions...
Sigmund Freud he was a legend, a king from times begone,
Admired and controversial, he didn't always get along,
So forgive me if I'm maudlin with these sentimental lines,
In the words of W. H. Auden,
he was thus memorialized...
"If often he was wrong and at times absurd,
To us he is no more a person now,
But a whole climate of opinion,
Under whom we conduct our differing lives."
And so Sigmund, the genius,
the gadfly Socratic,
academically polemic, and personally enigmatic,
whose legacy remains more influential than these strains can express,
He was the best
For so having well annoyed the status quo,
My Hero,
Dr. Sigmund Freud
Thank you
