He focused on the progressive replacement of " erotogenic zones in the body by others. This early biological organism of sexuality first looks for oral gratification by sucking at its mother's breast, which later will be replaced by other objects. At first, the infant is not able to recognize the distinction between itself and the breast, but it soon begins to see its mother as its first external love object. Freud would later argue that before the infant reaches this point of understanding, it is able to see its own self as a love object and develop into a narcissistic love of its personhood. Once the child goes through this oral state during the second year of life, its erotic emphasis transfers to the anus. This is encouraged by the challenges of toilet training. The child's enjoyment from defecating comes into conflict with the need for self-control. The third phase of sexual development for the child, taking place from approximately the fourth to the sixth year of life is called phallic. The use of this term clearly showed Freud's male orientation to development, especially since he noted that its major concern at this point was " castration anxiety. Called the Oedipus complex after Oedipus Rex, it was Freud's contention that it is the desire of every male child to sleep with his mother and eliminate his father, or the obstacle to that ultimate goal. (Encyclopedia Britannica).

Freud's theory of the sexual development and difficulty of finding a means of finding a middle road between conflicting sexual interests led to his psychoanalytic...

The goal is to re-establish a harmonious relationship among the id, ego and superego that constitute the mind by drawing out and resolving unconscious repressed conflicts.
It takes a long time to treat a patient through psychoanalysis or one-on-one talk therapy, between the patient and psychiatrist, due to the challenges associated with going back in time in one's mind and relating to people and actions in the past as a means of coming to terms with the present, this approach continues to be used in some instances. For example, someone may have to recall a traumatic situation as a childhood before he or she can get over psychological neuroses. Because of this, psychiatrists are now joining other forms of psychology with psychiatry to speed up the process. For example a number of doctors are combining cognitive therapy with psychoanalysis, which helps the individual recall the incident or "believed" incident in the past and deal with it in the future.

Allen, B.P. (2000). Personality theories: Development, growth, and diversity. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Nye, R.D. (1981). Three psychologies: Perspectives from Freud, Skinner, and Rogers. Values Development Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved April 23, 2008. http://www.iep.utm.edu/f/freud.htm#H5

World Book Encyclopedia Retrieved April 23, 2008 www.worldbook.com

Encyclopedia Britannica Retrieved April 23, 2008 www.britannica.com