Fifty Shades of Freud
Matt Petrusek, in a lecture on Wokeism- The Frankenstein of Political Ideologies (Lecture 1) shared a story from 2006 when a Duke Lacrosse Team was accused of raping a young woman. [1] I was curious about the details of this story, so I found a You tube: Presumed Guilty: Due Process Lessons of the Duke Lacrosse Team.[2] This story illustrates the “lived experience epistemology.” The African American woman who had been hired as a striper for the Lacrosse team was asked by an emergency hospital nurse if she had been raped and took this idea and created a false narrative around it. The accuser of the Lacrosse team, the 88 faculty members of Duke University, and the press had no interest in the truth, and they rushed to make false allegations. [3] Petrusek describes this “lived experience epistemology” as moral authority lying in one’s experience. This progressive thinking holds that there are no objective facts but only experience. After hearing this story, I was left wondering: how could this young woman falsely accuse this team of raping her? and how could so many side with her without asking “What is really going on here?”
Reading Carl Trueman’s book: The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self gives explanation for the sexual revolution and credits Sigmund Frued as being one of the most “important influence(s) on the whole notion of sex as identity that now grips the popular social imaginary.” [4] As a clinical psychologist, with a desire to gain greater understanding of the impact that Freud has on culture and contemporary thought, I will share some of Freud’s contributions and the faults stemming from his theories. Freud’s work is part genius but it also has set a trajectory of thought that has endowed us without looking at objective facts but a “lived experience epistemology.”
Freud’s Innovative Contribution
Among those who have recognized Sigmund Frued’s contributions are Irvin D. Yalom, Daniel Z. Lieberman, and Albert Ellis who are contemporary leading voices in psychology. Yalom taught at Stanford and had his students read “Freud’s first texts, Studies in Hysteria, selected sections of The Interpretation of Dreams, and Three Essays of the Theory of Sexuality”. [6] He wanted his students to realize how revolutionary Freud’s contribution to psychology was in the nineteenth century. [7] In Spellbound, Lieberman acknowledges Frued as discovering theories of the unconscious and providing a psychodynamic (ideas around “psychological forces”) framework to analyze from.[8] Freud’s work was groundbreaking in the area of psychoanalysis and provided a springboard for other theorists to work from. Albert Ellis states, “Freud, without quite realizing it, was on to something potentially valuable in his transference theories.” [9] Transference and countertransference are theories relating to how people project thoughts and feelings they have from one person to another. Freud has provided language and structure for thinking about personality, conscious and unconscious thinking, dream interpretation and methods for treating the mentally ill, leaving an indelible mark on our culture.
Where Freud Falters
I am able to smell the rotting flowers that Matt Petrusek describes in his You Tube, More Christ, Episode 107, October 17, 2023. Petrusek provides this vivid imagery of wilting and rotting cut flowers to illustrate how secularism is not working in our current culture. I believe Frued’s views have contributed to this stench. “Frued believed that the major psychological drives were sex, aggression, and pleasure seeking and this sexual energy and early childhood experiences- often influenced by (your) parents-shape your ego and personality.”[10] If these are our main drives then is there anything to mitigate or override these primary enforcers in our life? I would argue that there are influencers apart from these drives and a parents influence. I empathize with the woman who accused the college Lacrosse players of rape. It might be assumed that she had a difficult childhood but does that permit her to lie and speak falsehood?
Albert Ellis, a Rational Emotive Behavior Therapist, “also agrees with the psychoanalytic theory that many thoughts, feelings and behaviors are automatic and unconscious.”[11] But it is possible to show “clients that most unconscious thoughts and feelings are just below the level of consciousness and not deeply hidden and repressed, as the psychoanalysts contend.”[12] This has been my experience working with people in the clinical office. Aiding a client in what lies just below the level of consciousness takes a well-placed question and a clients receptivity to new insight. I appreciate what Jordan Peterson explains in his 12 Rules for Life by distinguishing an idea from a fact. [13] Ideas are able to drive us to do things that are not good. Ultimately it is best to base life decisions on fact and not ideas. This is what was missing in the Durham Lacrosse team case.
As a therapist it is important to withhold judgment when working with my clients but at what point is there fair warning or caution needed in my interventions? Frued would encourage his clients to freely associate which allows a person’s “imaginations to run free.” [14] Lieberman further describes this process: “images or thoughts that appear must be accepted as they are, without any conscious censoring or elaboration.” [15] My argument is: when does this become dangerous? If images are accepted without conscious censoring or elaboration, at what point will my clients believe that these images are true, believable, or reliable? I would argue that we are all endowed with the ability to think critically, and this is what sets us apart in the animal kingdom. I agree with Petrusek when he says that we need to be careful that we do not get to the point where we “anesthetize our own critical philosopher.” [16] I am glad that the Durham Lacrosse team was able to have their day in court and regain the value of due process.
A Prescriptive
Matt Petrusek believes that the antidote to our over sexualized political ideology would be the Catholic tradition. I would like to listen to his lecture series and hear how he proposes further steps to a flourishing life. I would propose that people must become not only moral in their pursuits but also demonstrate perspicacity. We can come out of the shades of gray when we demonstrate “penetrating discernment and clarity of vision or intellect which provides deep understanding and insight.” [17]
[1] Matt Petrusek, Wokeism- The Frankenstein of Political Ideologies (Lecture 1) 2006
[2] You tube: Presumed Guilty: Due Process Lessons of the Duke Lacrosse Team June 9, 2014
[3] You tube: Presumed Guilty: Due Process Lessons of the Duke Lacrosse Team, June 9,2014
[4] You tube: Presumed Guilty: Due Process Lessons of the Duke Lacrosse Team, June 9,2014
[5] Trueman, Carl R., The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self (Illinois: Crossway),2020, p.202
[6] Yalom,irvin, The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients, (New York: Harpers and Collin)2002, p.219
[7] Ibid. p.219
[8] Lieberman, Daniel, Spell Bound: Modern Science, Ancient Magic, and the Hidden Potential of the Unconscious Mind p.15
[9] Ellis, Albert, Overcoming Resistance: A Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Integrated Approach, (New York: Springer) 2002, p.246
[10] Campbell, Keith W. The New Narcissism (Colorado: Sounds True) 2022, p.11
[11] Ellis, Albert, Overcoming Resistance: A Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Integrated Approach, (New York: Springer) 2002, p.245
[12] Ibid. p.245
[13] Peterson, Jordan, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, (Canada: Random House) p.195
[14] Lieberman, Daniel Z. Spell Bound, (Dallas: BenBella Books)2018, p.254
[15] Ibid.p.224
[16] Wokeism, Petrusek The Frankenstein of Political Ideologies (Lecture 1) 2006
[17] Perspicacity, Merriam-Webster https://www.merriam-webster,com
About the Author
Kristy Newport
9 responses to “Fifty Shades of Freud”
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Howdy from DLGP02, (Russ Chun here).
You dove deep into this reading and came up with pearls.
You wrote, “My argument is: when does this become dangerous? If images are accepted without conscious censoring or elaboration, at what point will my clients believe that these images are true, believable, or reliable? I would argue that we are all endowed with the ability to think critically, and this is what sets us apart in the animal kingdom. I agree with Petrusek when he says that we need to be careful that we do not get to the point where we “anesthetize our own critical philosopher.
Wow. Great stuff.
I am looking forward to reading this book and I certainly will refer back to your expertise. My wheelhouse is refugees (immigration etc…) but clearly yours is the human mind.
Thanks.
Shalom…
Kristy, way to up the vocabulary game! I had to look up perspicacity, then realized you provided us with a definition! What a great comment:
“I would propose that people must become not only moral in their pursuits but also demonstrate perspicacity. We can come out of the shades of gray when we demonstrate “penetrating discernment and clarity of vision or intellect which provides deep understanding and insight.” [17]”
I think one thing we lack most in the political realm is perspicacity. Politics have moved from discourse to argument, from conversation to accusation. How do we even begin to make a difference in this realm?
Hi Becca,
Great question!
I am not sure how I am to personally engage the political arena. I have a friend who is running for a certain political position in Oregon. I admire his courage. I have encouraged him in his journey and have supported him in his political views. He has received a lot of painful backlash for some of his positions. I know that I can support my friend. This is one small way I am participating.
Do you have some ideas?
Hey Kristy,
This is a thorough post, and your expertise and experience as a therapist is evident.
Yes, Freud’s influence on our current cultural moment is vast (an understatement). You are right to criticize the lack of emphasis on objective truth and the overemphasis on lived experience. However, I believe that we like to think we are more rational, unbiased, and objective in our perception of reality than we really are. What are ways we can check our own biases, experience and put aside as many filters we have on reality as we can?
Hi David,
I would like to attempt to respond to your question
“I believe that we like to think we are more rational, unbiased, and objective in our perception of reality than we really are. What are ways we can check our own biases, experience and put aside as many filters we have on reality as we can?”
I have begun reading the last book that is on the reading list for the semester.
In the book Rethinking Leadership by Beerel, she states on p.148
We need to have “empathy, cognitive flexibility, and curiosity to see the world from a range of alternative perspectives.”
I also like what she says on p. 149 Many leaders do not take the time to invest the energy into the hard work of real thinking.” Check out her list of Steps (1-9) in the sense making process. I think they assist in the hard work of thinking.
Thanks for the question!
Kristy,
Incredible post. You have such a brilliant mind and caring heart. You bring up some excellent questions that I would love to hear some answers from Petrusek on. Well done!
P.S. I have been praying for your family, things will be a little turbulent for a while and will smooth out. The lord showed me waterskier skiing behind a boat with rough waves. Than, a water skier skiing behind the boat on flat water, going fast and cutting through the water. Its going to be okay in time.
God Bless
Kristy,
What a fantastic post on Freudism and sexualized political ideology. I, too, see we watched one of the same videos with the cut flower analogy! (It was an excellent video and analogy, by the way.) I love how you carried the story of the Duke LaCrosse Team all the way through. It was very relevant. Blessings to you, and much prayer for you in the coming months.
Kristy,
Great, insightful post. I love that you pulled from Frued and others to consider how we wrestle with perception and reality. You concluded with some great questions:
“If images are accepted without conscious censoring or elaboration, at what point will my clients believe that these images are true, believable, or reliable?”
This is certainly the challenge and one that concerns me as well. I will say that this is the thing that terrifies me the most (and probably should all of us) is that accusations can be made without process and evidence. I wonder if we live in a time of reaction to the suppression of previous generations. Perhaps, a correction will come where we regain a level of sanity, while elevating voices of minority, victim and counter-point. That might be too much to hope for.
Phenomenal post, Kristy. The title would sell!