ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the beginning of Freud’s career as a therapist and an emerging psychoanalyst. The concept of defence, resistance, and the beginning of the concept of unconscious motivation all have their roots in this period of Freud’s career. Freud also begins his self-analysis during this period, and this is one factor that will lead Freud to question whether his patient’s reports of sexual abuse are real or the product of fantasy developed early in the person’s life. The chapter evaluates his contributions as the most convincing evidence of how the intellectual ferment of his era affected his writings. It discusses the time when Freud is starting to revolutionize the world of psychiatry with his theoretical concepts and his new psychotherapeutic technique. The chapter looks at Freud’s first publication with Breuer, and shows how it presages many of his concepts during this period.
