Gerard Keegan's Psychology Biographies

They continued to improve upon these ideas eventually releasing another paper entitled 'Studien über Hysterie' in 1895. It was this collaboration, which marked the beginnings of psychoanalysis. The discovery that symptoms of hysterical patients could be traced to psychological trauma in earlier life and could eventually manefest itself as hysteria - was the catalyst for subsequent developments of Psychoanalytical techniques. They developed a therapy known as the cathartic method. The patient was placed in a state of hypnosis and would be instructed to recall the forgotten scenes which were the core of the hysteria. Unfortunately this work was largely ignored by the medical profession. Soon after Freud and Bruer were to go their separate ways because of Freud's preoccupation with sex.

Freud moved away from Hypnosis and began to use free association. He also published 'The Interpretation of Dreams' in 1900 which he considered the most important of all his works. He was appointed professor at the University of Vienna in 1902. In this year he also founded the psychological "Wednesday Society" which was a weekly meeting of friends at his home, where his discoveries were discussed.