ABSTRACT
Freudian theory is something about which commencing psychology students often expect to hear a great deal, but they find Sigmund Freud's work given only a minor place in psychology curricula, which instead emphasize the scientific method and evidence-based psychology practice. Freud's ideas were indeed developed in the absence of scientific support, during the first part of the twentieth century. Even by the end of the twentieth century, Freudian ideas were described as having penetrated into the matrix of modern psychology and continuing to exert formidable influence. Freud's psychosexual theory of child development, derived from his reflections on the early childhood recollections of his adult psychiatric patients, has to be seriously questioned. Writings about Freudian theory continue to appear, but they are largely from historical, philosophical or social perspectives, and not related to current developmental psychology. While some psychoanalytic practice continues, including with children, and has its own journals, it is not part of mainstream psychotherapy.
