ABSTRACT
Sigmund Freud promoted the view that there was “primary antagonism” between the cortical ego and the id. Freud only gave negative characteristics to the unconscious, nether regions of his mental structure, to represent his theory of neurosis: only unwelcome stuff had to be buried, and in sex and aggression he had found the nasty instincts that threatened the ego. Melanie Klein criticised what he terms “professional hypocrisy”, which was his way of saying that the coldness and reserve that was advocated as the correct procedure in therapy, hid the true feelings that the analyst may have had. Others who were less than enthusiastic about Freud’s drive theory and who advocated a much more empathic approach towards their patients were Franz Alexander, who coined the phrase “Corrective emotional experience” as a cardinal objective of therapy and Carl Rogers who coined the equally memorable maxim “Unconditional positive regard”.
