Freud vs. Rogers Sigmund Freud

Freud vs. Rogers

Sigmund Freud vs. Carl Rogers:

A Discussion on Theories of Personality and Psychotherapy

Sigmund Freud and Carl Rogers were two of the most influential psychological theorists of the previous century. These two men came up with psychoanalysis and the humanistic approach, both of which revolutionized the field. It is, thus, important not only to understand their individual approaches, but also to compare the two men in their theories of personality and psychotherapy, in order to see how these theories functioned, how the men explained the various approaches, and how the main principles and components evidence strengths and weaknesses.

Freud's Theory

In the Freudian point-of-view, a person was like an "energy system" and all mental processes were "energy flows." These "flows" were considered to either flow freely or be backed up by some other energy. Freud also argued that the "goal of all behavior is the reduction of tension through the release of energy, which produces pleasure," and added that "people function in accordance with hedonistic principles, seeking unbridled gratification of all desires."

Freud also states, according to Prevos (2005) that there is a pursuit of pleasure in all humans no matter what personality and what kind of person one is, and so this endless pursuit is in constant conflict with all civilization. This uncontrolled satisfaction of pleasure is certainly never wholly fulfilled. Freud also states, with regards to analyzing people's personalities, and even in psychotherapy his constant stress is upon this; namely the fact that humans are and will always be primarily driven by sexuality and aggression.

Freud adds:

"Sexual and aggressive energy prevent[s] from expression in a more direct way [and] are converted to cultural activities such as art and science. Energy used for cultural purposes is, however, no longer available to sexual purposes and […] the price of civilization is misery, the forfeit of happiness and a sense of guilt."

Freud also states that, with regards, to personality, "much of human behavior is determined by forces outside awareness."

Thus, the relation between a person and his peers (society) is essentially controlled by primitive urges, which are buried within us and form the basis of a "hidden self." In this way, according to Prevos (2005), Freud constructs the basis for dreams, neurosis, psychosis, etc. through an unmanifested world, which he divides into three levels of awareness (the id, ego and superego). These are thus Freud's theories on psychotherapy and with it, on personality.

Rogers' Theory

Carl Rogers, who came after Freud, build upon the previously existing theories in the field. Rogers was a humanist psychologist, and was quite dissatisfied with Freud's psychoanalysis.

He thought it completely dehumanized, and instead proposed that

"…people have drives that lead them to engage in activities resulting in personal satisfaction and a contribution to society: the actualizing tendency [which] is present is all organisms and can be defined as the motivation present in every life form to develop its potentials to the fullest extent."

In this view, this kind of psychology bases itself upon an optimistic view of humanity and human nature, and believes in an individual's constant drive for self-actualization. Prevos (2005) further states,

"…A person's identity is formed through a series of personal experiences, which reflect how the individual is perceived by both him or herself and the outside world -- the phenomeno-logical field. Individuals also have experiences of which they are unaware and the phenomenological field contains both conscious and unconscious perceptions. The concept of the self is, according to Rogers, however, primarily conscious. The most important determinants of behavior are the one's that are conscious or are capable of becoming conscious. Roger argues that a definition of the self that includes a reference to the unconscious (as with Freud) can not be studied objectively as it can not be directly known."

This perfect description given by Prevos (2005) is precisely what Rogers would have envisioned of his theory. His aims, unlike Freud, were to allow humanity to return, instead of alienating individuals by placing them in categories related solely to desire and sexuality. However, both psychologists aimed to explain human motivation, and this can be seen as a similarity of two very opposite viewpoint.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Both theories have strengths and weaknesses. Many psychologists believe for example, that the timing of these theories suited the growth of the psychological field, as well as the decades in which they were constructed. It is, further, a logical prediction to state that theories will evolve, and that is exactly what happened when Rogers could not agree completely with Freud. However, whereas Rogers theory saw the good in people, there were still good aspects of Freud's theory, such as the fact that "…amidst all of Freud's arrogance he actually wanted to listen to people. After discovering the truths in his own personal introspections of his dreams and childhood, he realized that this is where the information was…By listening to the patients he could gain insight into their unconscious and help them overcome their hysteria."