Psychologists and I don’t get along.
I’ve heard psychs brag about – when everything goes right – helping someone overcome a phobia in only six months.
The last time I helped someone with that, it took me about 40 minutes.
That’s because I was taking my time.
Anyway, my coldest take in psychology is that Freud wasn’t all that great.
Mainstream psychology agrees. Either he was an important step that we’ve all moved on from, or he was a deranged fool who sent us off down false paths.
He has a few fans even now, but they get strange looks at parties.
But the wrinkle is, psychs and I don’t agree on why Freud tripped over his own feet.
A common sticking point is around Insight Therapy.
Too many psychs find themselves in conversations like this.
Subject: My stomach clenches whenever I see open bodies of water.
Operator: I see. There might be some trauma from your past.
Subject: Well… yeah. I mean, I almost drowned when I was five. I still get nightmares about that.
Operator: There you go, problem solved.
Subject: Huh? What do you mean?
Operator: We got to the root your phobia.
Subject: I know why I get like this around water. That’s obvious! That doesn’t help me though!
Operator: Hmm, no, that must not be the root cause then. You must have deeper trauma you haven’t uncovered yet.
Sweet fiery goodness.
Insight Therapy is the Freudian idea that once you’re aware of something, it loses all power.
It’s wrong on two fronts: conscious awareness doesn’t always help, and you don’t need to become aware of a problem to solve it.
But apart from that, great.
It tickles me that psychs threw out so much of Freud’s muck but so many still cling to that ludicrous manure.
That’s why so few of them could write something like this: