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Miss Modular · #1

Does anyone know if Psychoanalysis is still used? I'm working on a project (fiction) where a guy sees a psychoanalyst. If it's still used, have there been any developments in recent years that I should know about? Right now, I'm reading one of those "comics illustrated" books that summarizes the practice, but I understand that psychologists have recently begun to retreat away from the works of Freud and Jung. Are they any recent thinkers that I should know about, other than postmodernists like Lacan? (Somebody later than Lacan is preferable)

sspadowsky · #2

It's my understanding that they're getting away from it. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, I believe, is the prevailing school of thought these days.

Grab an issue of Psychology Today. It's boring as hell, but it's good info for someone with a casual interest in Psychology. The "Sexy Frontal Lobe in Just 30 Days" article was very informative.

kellychaos · #3

I find it interesting that for all his notoriety, Freud never treated a patient that enjoyed a full recovery. I once read a book (I can't remember the title off-hand. I'll try to research it for you.) in which about 15-20 modern day psychoanalysts basically critique Freud's methods while contrasting and comparing them to modern methods in the field. In some cases it was a mild critique but in others they pretty much tore him a new bunghole.

sspadowsky · #4

Well, to be fair, I think we must also take into account that:
1) Freud's work was ahead of its time, and
2) It did help bring to the fore the importance of understanding the human mind, and
3) Freud was a whack-job who was main-lining cocaine.

AChimp · #5

My psychology professor in the summer said that there are still a few people who practice psychoanalysis professionally, but like Sspad said, there are fewer and fewer all the time.

Mostly because cognitive therapy rocks.

The One and Only... · #6

It is also very important to remember that postmodernism contradicts itself, no matter what jderrida (read: Jacques Derrida) would tell you.

sspadowsky · #7

Sorry, sir, this is the Psychoanalysis thread. There's no Pompous Ass thread here yet, so I guess you'll have to start one.

kellychaos · #8

i.e. every thread he starts.

Anonymous · #9

This thread sickens me. :monocle-into-highball

Cosmo Electrolux · #10

sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...

derrida · #11

Psychoanalysis is certainly alive and well, but nowadays its usefulness exists more as a research tool in uncovering and tracing the trajectories of cultural artifacts and symptomologies. Slavoj Zizek, using the methods of Lacan, is probably its most well-known practioner.

OAO- I think Marxist theoretical tools, particularly the concepts of reification and commodity fetishism, are more than adequate in describing conditions of postmodernity.

The One and Only... · #12

Who deleted all those posts?

Jeanette X · #13

Quote:

Originally Posted by The One and Only...

It is also very important to remember that postmodernism contradicts itself, no matter what jderrida (read: Jacques Derrida) would tell you.

Will you shut up?! I wouldn't mind the fact that your a pompous ass so much if you just limited it to libertarianism and economics. But oh fucking no, every thread has some brilliant insight you need to offer.

Its not that I mind the differing opinion, what I mind is your grandiloquent bullshit. Skip the obscure references and the bombastic language, cut to the chase, and maybe I'll give your opinion some consideration. Save the intellectual masturbation for some other time.

ziggytrix · #14

Quote:

Originally Posted by The One and Only...

Who deleted all those posts?

God did it. He said they were too boring.

Brandon · #15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeanette X

Will you shut up?! I wouldn't mind the fact that your a pompous ass so much if you just limited it to libertarianism and economics. But oh fucking no, every thread has some brilliant insight you need to offer.

Its not that I mind the differing opinion, what I mind is your grandiloquent bullshit. Skip the obscure references and the bombastic language, cut to the chase, and maybe I'll give your opinion some consideration. Save the intellectual masturbation for some other time.

"And now, for my next trick, I'm going to demonstrate to everyone how incredibly smart I am using only this college-level philosophy textbook and this copy of Atlas Shrugged. Can I have a volunteer from the audience?"