first attempt to treat mental illnesses psychologically
employed techniques to bring repressed issues to the surface to deal with them- forerunner for modern day therapies eg counselling
improve QOL, return to work, economy
however, psychoanalysis not applicable to all, need ability to articulate thoughts which mental illness struggle with, drug therapy better?
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approach untestable
due to a lack of scientific and objective methods
philosopher karl popper argued does not meet criteron for falsification so cannot be disporoved
ideas such as the id are at unconscious levels so hard to operationalise and must be observed indirectly- methods not standardised for replication to increase reliability
thus approach considered pseudoscience and doesnt help psychology reach aim of being a science
many of freuds ideas are idiographic
bases alot of theories on casestudies
idea of oedipus and electra complex based on case study of littlehans- freud suggested his fear of horses stemmed from fear towards father, based on his sexual desires for mother
thus using idiographic approach to research but with nomothetic application `
case study subjective to individual(cannot be generalises) and lack of standardisation...
