Installation by Mexican artist Santiago Borja taken from Freud.org.uk
Mahan Doğrusöz: what do you think we have inherited from Freud as of today in our therapeutic theories and practise?
ChatGPT: That’s a thoughtful question — Freud’s theories have cast a long shadow over modern therapy, and while many of his specific ideas have been critiqued, modified, or discarded, his legacy remains deeply embedded in contemporary psychotherapy. Here’s a breakdown of what we’ve inherited from Freudian theory in today’s therapy practices and psychological theories. Our main inheritance from Freudian theory is the Unconscious mind. Freud introduced the idea that much of our behaviour is driven by unconscious motives, desires, and conflicts. While, today we no longer adhere to his specific model (id, ego, superego), the unconscious is still central — especially in psychodynamic, cognitive, and even behavioural therapies (e.g., implicit biases, automatic thoughts).
Second inheritance is talk therapy and the therapeutic relationship. Freud’s “talking cure” was revolutionary in shifting treatment away from physical interventions like asylums or rest cures. Today, the idea that verbal expression and the therapeutic alliance are healing tools persists in nearly all modalities, from CBT to humanistic therapy.
Third inheritance is the defense mechanisms. He and his daughter Anna Freud developed detailed descriptions of how people defend against anxiety (e.g., repression, denial, projection). Today, the concept of defense mechanisms has been empirically validated and is a mainstay in psychodynamic therapy and even recognized across clinical approaches.
Fourth is defining childhood experience as foundational. Freud emphasized that early childhood experiences, especially within the family, shape adult personality and psychopathology. Today, nearly all schools of therapy recognize that developmental history matters, although the details differ (e.g., attachment theory, trauma-informed care).
Fifth is transference and Countertransference. Freud noticed that patients would project feelings about others onto their therapist (transference), and that therapists could have their own emotional reactions (countertransference). Today, these concepts are crucial in psychoanalytic and relational therapies, but even CBT therapists pay attention to the therapeutic relationship and their own reactions.
Mahan Doğrusöz: what are the elements of Freudian theory that have been discarded and heavily criticised?
ChatGPT: Oedius complex and psychosecxual stages are largely seen as outdated and not supported by empirical evidence. Deterministic views of human behavior as driven by sexual and aggressive instincts have also been criticised. Many modern psychologists argue that Freud reduced human motivation to just two forces, ignoring things like love, creativity, curiosity and social connection. Other important motivations such as competence, autonomy, and meaning are central in humanistic and positive psychology. His neglect of free will and agency has also been criticised. Freud’s model leaves little room for concious choice, growth, or persoanl responsibility. In contrast, existential andhumanistic therapies emphasize human potential, decision-making, and meaning-making. Biological drives are real, but Freud’s specific model of sexual and aggressive instincts lacks support from neuroscience or behavioural research. Modern psychology favours multifactorial models (cognitive, social, cultural, genetic, environmental). Freud’s views were shaped by Victorian repression, and don’t generalize well to more diverse, modern, or collectivist cultures. The model can feel pessimistic or cynical, focusing on conflict and pathology rather than strengths and well-being.
Mahan Doğrusöz: what are some evolved or integrated concepts from Freudian theory in our contemporary theories of human psychology, development and psychotherapy?
ChatGPT: Insight-oriented therapy is an evolved form of psychoanalysis. Many therapies, including modern psychodynamic, schema therapy, and even aspects of ACT, aim for deep self-awareness. Narrative and meaning making is also an evolved form psychoanalytic thinking. Freud was an early forerunner in treating symptoms as expressions of internal conflict, a concept now seen in narrative and existential therapies. Freud’s ideas contributed to the object relations school, which has shaped how we think about mental representations of self/others, attachment and relational patterns.
Mahan Doğrusöz: what is Freud’s legacy for cultural studies as a field?
ChatGPT: Freud’s legacy in cultural studies is profound, even if controversial. While many of his psychological theories have been challenged or revised within clinical psychology, his influence on humanities, literary theory, film, philosophy, and cultural criticism remains strong. Here’s a breakdown of how Freud shaped cultural studies and why his ideas still resonate. Freud introduced The Unconscious as a Cultural Force, the idea that beneath rational thought lies an unconscious realm of desires, fears, and memories. Artists, critics, and theorists began interpreting texts, behaviors, and societies as symbolic expressions of unconscious drives. This method is used in psychoanalytic literary criticism, surrealism, post-structuralism, semiotics.
Freud argued that dreams and language use symbols to mask unconscious desires. Cultural studies used this to explore mythology and folklore (e.g., in Jungian extensions), popular culture and media (ads, film, music) and textual analysis: Treating a film, text, or advertisement like a dream — interpreting its latent meaning.
Freud’s Oedipus complex and theories of early childhood shaped the idea that our identities are formed in relation to power, desire, and authority. This influenced thinkers like Jacques Lacan who reinterpreted Freud through structural linguistics, Michel Foucault who critiqued Freud’s focus on repression but still engaged deeply with psychoanalysis and Judith Butler whose work on gender performativity reflects and critiques Freudian assumptions. In cultural studies, Freud’s family-centered view of the psyche was a starting point for exploring gender, sexuality, and power structures.
In works like Civilization and Its Discontents, Freud argued that society demands the repression of instinctual drives, especially aggression and sexuality.Cultural theorists expanded this. Marcuse linked Freud with Marx to critique capitalist repression of desire. Postmodernism and postcolonial theory use Freudian ideas to explore how societies construct normality and deviance.
While Freud’s work is widely used as a tool of critique, it’s also critiqued for patriarchal and heteronormative assumptions, a western, individualist, often elitist view of the psyche, over-reliance on symbolic interpretation. Many cultural theorists — especially feminists, queer theorists, and postcolonial scholars — adapt or challenge Freud to create more inclusive and critical models.
Mahan Doğrusöz: Do you think Freudian thinking will continue having relevance for theoreticians and psychotherapy practitioners of the following decades?
ChatGPT: Freudian thought will survive not because it’s infallible, but because it provokes questions about identity, desire, society, and meaning. It offers a rich symbolic and narrative language for inner life. It’s already deeply woven into our intellectual, artistic, and clinical traditions.
Mahan Doğrusöz 2025
