Criticism of freud psychoanalysis

Orthodox Freudian psychoanalysis was challenged in the s by Otto Rank, Sandor Ferenczi, and Wilhelm Reich; later, in the s, by Karen Horney, Erich Fromm, and Harry Stack Sullivan.

These critics of Freud stressed the interpersonal aspect of the analyst-patient relationship (transference), and placed more emphasis on the processes of the ego. Despite a number of detractors and a lack of controlled research, Freudian psychoanalysis remained the most widely used method of psychotherapy until at least the s.

Today, Freud's method is only one among many types of psychotherapy used in psychiatry.

Criticism of freud psychoanalysis theory

Many objections have been leveled against traditional psychoanalysis, both for its methodological rigidity and for its lack of theoretical rigor. A number of modern psychologists have pointed out that traditional psychoanalysis relies too much on ambiguities for its data, such as dreams and free associations.

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