Basic Freud

In Basic Freud noted psychologist Michael Kahn shows that even in the age of psychopharmaceuticals and cognitive therapy Freuds insights into the unconscious remain unsurpassed tools for understanding our behaviors motivations and emotions. In a style accessible to any lay reader or beginning student in psychology Kahn presents key ideas such as the Oedipus complex the repetition compulsion guilt anxiety and defense mechanisms along with recent research that has supported or expanded Freuds findings. He also presents case studies from his own work as a psychotherapist to show how Freudian thought has been instrumental in helping patients discover who they are and escape from destructive patterns. Readers aware of Freuds ideas and those discovering them for the first time will benefit from Kahns fresh informed and unpretentious approach.