Introducing An Almost Science...

Many critics of psychoanalysis say that;

"The comparison of psychoanalysis to religious miracle cures is an apt one in reflecting the criticism that Freud’s ideas are not subjected to the same critical, scientific scrutiny as are other psychological theories (Friedman & Schustack, 2009)."

This comment follows from an observation by the comedian Woody Allen, who, in the movie, "Annie Hall", states that after fifteen years of psychoanalysis, he is resolved to give it one more year before resorting to faith-healing. Of course, this idea is coming from someone who thinks that God considers him to be the loyal opposition.

Psychoanalytic theory has two content componants; manifest, and latent content. Manifest describes the notion of "what is", and Latent describes the implications of what is superficially observed.

The problem is that while one can gather anecdotal data and compare that with the mean of similar data, one cannot compare results with a control and therefore cannot reasonably apply the full scientific method to psychoanalytic practice.

Modern medicine and contemporary understanding of the structure of the brain have helped to fill the gaps in psychology that is based solely on observation in a closed system. We know now that the study of personality requires a study of multiple data points that are gathered from a broader spectrum of ideas than were originally thought to be the case.