Hi, need to submit a 1250 words paper on the topic Major Figure from the History of Psychology: Sigmund Freud.

It is said that Freud got his sense of humor from his father who was a merchant. He went to study medicine and under the guidance of a professor, Ernst Brucke became involved in research work. His interest and devotion to research studies is evidence of his tenacity, inquisitive mind, and his love for challenges. Freud had pursued his investigation on neurosis as a manifestation of one’s personality for years but finally had to give up as the research reached a dead end (Boeree, 2006). Freud’s original domain of research was neurophysiology from where he ventured to other related territories and dealt with complex concepts like psychoanalysis and the technique of hypnosis as a form of therapeutic treatment.

It was his association with Joseph Breuer who acted both as friend and mentor to Freud that gave him the opportunity to carry on his research in the field of neuropsychiatry. Breuer made him his assistant while dealing with Anna O’s case and together they wrote a book on hysteria based on their study of Anna O who suffered from chronic hysteria or as it is now known as conversion disorder (Boeree, 2006). It was later that Freud deciphered the element of repressed sexuality in the relationship between Breuer and his patient Anna O.

While working with Breuer Freud met with numerous cases of Viennese women with, as Freud realized, “somatic manifestation of some psychological trauma that the patient had suffered and repressed” (Fowler, 2004) and he further realized that many of the hallucinations were not based on reality but the patient’s fantasies that due to the fear of being ostracized were repressed.With the help of Ernst Brucke who had helped Freud in receiving a grant, he pursued his research on the application of hypnosis in cases of acute hysteria along with Charcot and Bernheim.

Later on, it was Breuer who had helped him to start his own neuropsychiatry clinic.