The Freudian view of human nature is basically deterministic. It is based on the belief that our behavior is determined by irrational forces, unconscious motivations, and biological and instinctual drives as these evolve through key psychosexual stages in the first six years of life. I don't care for this type of therapy very much. Too much emphasis is placed on things beyond our control that we cannot change. This type of therapy does not fit in with my personality. I believe that we can take charge of our lives, and that we can make changes. Though our past does affect us, I believe we can move beyond it by understanding it and coming to terms with it. I believe we can learn to accept the things we cannot change about our pasts, and move on to the future, learning from the past, but not dwelling on it, and not letting it influence our present and future lives.
Freud based most of is theories on the stages of sexuality a child goes through during their early life. First there is the oral phase, up to 18 months, when all the child wants to do is bite and suck. The next phase is the anal phase, when toilet training takes place, and Freud believed that the infant's pleasure comes from withholding or eliminating bodily waste. The third phase, known as the phallic phase, lasts from three years until roughly seven years of age, and during which masturbation predominates. This is followed by a latent phase until puberty, when the Oedipal stage arises.
What must be remembered is that sex was very much repressed in Freud's day, and not spoken of in public the way it is today. Even Freud was considered ahead of his time for being so open about it. Towards the end of his life, Freud began to change his ideas, and became convinced that the driving force in life was a death wish: we all wish for peace and contentment in our lives and the only time we achieve this is in death. While sex is definitely one of the major drivin...