by psychoanalysts in response to a free-association session can be viewed in two ways. If a psychoanalyst would point out that a repressed feeling exists in the patient, the patient can either respond that the repressed feeling does in fact exist, or he can answer that it does not exist. The denial of the existence of that particular repressed feeling given by the patient, can be viewed as a way of blocking a feeling the patient does not want the psychoanalyst to know about, or can possibly be a feeling that does not exist at all. The fact that a clear and definite solution cannot be derived from the patient’s response is another reason why there are many dissenters to Freud’s theories.Another problem with psychoanalysis is that it makes the assumption that repressed feelings exist within the patient’s mind. Today, many psychologists say that the idea that memories can be repressed is unproven and untestable, although many laboratory tests have shown that people are more likely to forget experiences that were unpleasant than they are to forget pleasant ones. In real life, however, most people seem never forget their traumatic experiences. One well-known example of this phenomenon is that of Holocaust survivors who can recall every detail of their suffering. Furthermore, study of memories also shows that willful blocking of memories is unlikely, as the more people try to forget painful experiences, the more they remember. Freud, of course, did not have the advantage of today’s modern research. Contemporary critics of Freud, such as Alfred Adler and Karen Horney, did not dispute his entire theory, but differed only as to certain portions of it. They believed that the conscious mind was of greater importance in interpreting experience and in dealing with one’s circumstances and surroundings than the subconscious mind. They also believed that aggression and sex were not the overriding motivations that Fre...
