psychoanalysis

Dear aa, I am just not capable of squeezing what we do in psychoanalysis class into the small comment box. Thus, I hope this entry would allow me to fully express my utter disdain for the module. Let me start by giving you an idea of what i had thought the class would be like. So that when i put the ideal against the reality in juxtaposition, you can imagine my shock at how the class turned out.

Psychoanalysis, I had read, involved Freudian theory. The ego, the superego and the id; and how together they help an individual resolve his inner conflicts. Sigmund Freud's study of the body's defence mechanism and the unconscious mind helped in the development of related areas like psychotherapy, anger management, peer pressure , social norms and etc. interesting isn't it.

The lesson began interestingly enough. He touched on how analysis done during hypnosis actually conforms to the social norms and beliefs of the hypnotist. Thus, is not an unbiaised study of the unconscious mind. He touch on how dream interpretation is actually a branch of psychoanalysis. How the mind tried to protect itself by allowing the bad things to only manifest itself as subtle symbols in our dreams. The crux of the dream analysis is actually the study of the fringe symbols rather than the obvious happenings in the dream.

Then..

"So do you know what is the explanation for you dreaming about yourself writing in your dream?", he asked.
"No", the class responded in unison.
"You are thinking of sex. The pen is a symbol of the p*nis. The ink is you know what. The act of staining the sheets with ink is, in fact, sex.", he concluded.

goodness. He continued..

"Do you know what does the door symbolise?", he asked.
Me being quick as I am, caught on really fast. "It's a symbol of the vag*na."
"Yes and n0. If the door is hinged on one side, meaning you have to swing it open to either the left and right, it might not be a representation of the vag*na. However, if the door is hinged on both sides and opens from the center, then it is what you think it is.", he replied beaming.

omg.. He moved on to the topic of hypnosis..

"Do you know that during hypnosis, most women admitted to being sexually abused by their father? However, this doesn't mean that they are actually being abused. Instead, it could mean that they have a little Electra complex. Same goes for the boys and Oedipus complex."

This left my jaw hanging. How apt to hire a quack to conduct a class on psychoanalysis; brainwashing us with his perverted ideology.

Damn i still have to spend the next 6 Wednesday afternoons with him.