The Different Schools of

Abstract

SYCHOANALYSIS, like nursing, is very hard to define. Although its principles have become the therapeutic tools of many different schools of psychiatric thought, a precise definition of psychoanalysis has not yet been agreed upon. No one questions, however, that a very basic fact in the therapy is making conscious the unconscious, by removing repression, coping with resistance, and understanding the role of transference. The differences lie in two general areas. Some schools question aspects of Freud's theory of personality development, and there is a difference of opinion about the type of unconscious material which is most significant. The Freudian school stresses the importance of recalling the past (the genetic approach), while Adler and Homey stress the importance of the patient's unconscious goals. Other schools, especially those of Jung and Sullivan, feel that both aspects are of great importance. Freud originated the theory of psychoanalysis and, from its beginning around 1890 until about 1910, his thinking completely dominated the scene. During those years, he continued to develop his theories and changed some of his earlier conceptions. Although he remained a powerful thinker and force in the field until his death in 1939, divergences of opinion among some of his pupils began to appear, and out of a few of these divergences new schools were formed.