Valid Freud Principles
Though Freud’s work is not taken to be ‘scientific’ in some quarters, a number of his principles as well as theories have over time been accepted as valid. One of Freud’s principles which in my opinion contributed to a great extent towards the understanding of personality is the three levels of awareness. Freud came up with the three mind parts which were largely founded on the awareness level. According to Freud, the three mind parts include the conscious mind, the preconscious mind and the subconscious mind. He described the conscious mind as the ongoing thinking process and with that in mind; it takes a big part of an individual’s awareness at any one time. The preconscious mind is made of those things an individual may be aware of but for one reason or another, cannot pay attention to. To pay attention to these, an individual must accommodate the same into the conscious mind. When it comes to the subconscious mind, the conscious mind does not have a direct reach on the content and process (Leahey 2004). Therefore, for the larger part, the subconscious is independent.
Another of Freud’s valid principles is the topographical model of personality where the ego is taken as a personality aspect that concerns itself with reality. Here, the question that Freud tried to answer was what comes after the ego fails to handle our desires’ demands. Freud saw anxiety as an inner state that was largely unpleasant and which individuals were in a constant attempt to avoid (Leahey (2004). Hence with that in mind, when things are not going as expected, the ego is alerted by anxiety. In this regard, Freud identified three anxiety types including neurotic anxiety, reality anxiety and moral anxiety.
References
Leahey, T.H. (2004). A history of psychology: main currents in psychological thought.
Pearson Prentice Hall
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