Basic Freud

In Basic Freud, noted psychologist Michael Kahn shows that even in the age of psychopharmaceuticals and cognitive therapy, Freud's major insights into the unconscious remain unsurpassed tools for understanding our behaviors, motivations, and emotions. Kahn presents key ideas such as the Oedipus complex, the repetition compulsion, guilt, anxiety, and defense mechanisms, along with recent research that has supported or expanded Freud's findings. Kahn also presents real case studies from his own work as a psychotherapist to show how Freudian thought has been instrumental in helping his clients discover who they are and escape from destructive patterns. Lay readers and professional psychotherapists alike will benefit from Kahn's fresh, informed, and unpretentious approach.

Michael Kahn, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a clinical psychologist in private practice. He is also director of a counseling center at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, where he trains psychotherapists. He is the author of The Tao of Conversation and Between Therapist and Client. He lives in Mill Valley, California.