Freudian Slips
We all occasionally make slips of the tongue. A husband might refer to his
wife by her maiden name or say that her mind is really her “breast ”feature.
These slips can be embarrassing and funny, but to Freud they represented un-
conscious associations that momentarily slipped out. The husband who uses
his wife ’s maiden name may unconsciously wish he ’d never married this
woman. We call these misstatements Freudian slips .
Hypnosis
Freud ’s early experiences with hypnosis told him there was more to the hu-
man mind than what we can bring into awareness. He came to believe that
the ego was somehow put into a suspended state during a deep hypnotic
trance, which allowed the hypnotist to bypass the ego and get directly to un-
conscious material. When people asked Freud for proof of the unconscious,
he often pointed to hypnosis. “Anyone who has witnessed such an experi-
ment, ”he wrote, “will receive an unforgettable impression and a conviction
that can never be shaken ”(1938/1964, p. 285).
If hypnosis is a pipeline to the unconscious, it is easy to see how the pro-
cedure would be a valuable tool for psychoanalysts. Yet Freud was quick to
acknowledge some drawbacks. Chief among these is that not all clients are re-
sponsive to hypnotic suggestion. Moreover, as we will see in Chapter 4, not
all psychologists agree with Freud ’s description of hypnosis as a pathway to
the unconscious.
Accidents
Suppose you are having an argument with a friend and you “accidentally ”
knock off a shelf an irreplaceable statue belonging to that friend. The statueshatters beyond repair. You apologize, saying that you did not mean to do
it. But is this really an accident? In Freud ’s view, many apparent accidents
are in fact intentional actions stemmi ng from unconscious impulses. Freud
might argue that you were expressing an unconscious desire to hurt your
friend when you broke his or her prized possession. Clients who claim to ac-
cidentally forget their regular therapy appointment might be displayingwhat Freud called resistance. Consciously, the clients believe they simply
did not remember the appointment. Unconsciously, there has been a deliber-ate effort to thwart a therapist who may be close to uncovering threateningunconscious material. Similarly, reckless drivers might be setting themselves
up for an accident to satisfy an unconsci ous desire for self-inflicted harm.
To Freudian psychologists, many unfortunate events are accidents in the
sense that people do not consciously intend them, but not in the sense that
they are unintended.
Symbolic Behavior
Just like the events we dream, many of our daily behaviors can be interpreted
by Freudian psychologists as symbolic representations of our unconsciousThe Freudian Theory of Personality 55