Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis

There exist, of course, few more famous figures in the field of psychology than Sigmund Freud. As the founding father of psychoanalysis, or the clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst, his impact on the field of psychology cannot be overstated. This short work, “Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis”, is a collection of a series of lectures given by Freud at the 20th Anniversary Celebration of the founding of Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts during September 1909 and was published as a collection in 1910. This event, at which Freud was awarded an honorary doctorate, received widespread media attention and marked the beginning of public popularity for Freud and his ideas. The publication of the lectures brought an even greater public attention to his theories. “Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis” predates the more extensive collection “Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis”, which is a series of lectures given by Freud from 1915 to 1917 and which delve more deeply into the topics of dreams, the unconscious mind, and the source of neuroses. “Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis” is an excellent and accessible introduction to Freud’s influential work in which he summarizes his basic ideas and speaks on the foundations of psychoanalysis. This edition follows the translation of Harry W. Chase.