Sigmund Freud

"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

Not just any old shrink, but the Shrink.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was an Austrian neurologist who is credited by many as the Father of Single-Issue Psychology. He is well known for the psychoanalytical method (which pretty much defined Hollywood Psych and to an extent modern day psychotherapy), his study of the Unconscious Mind and the mechanism of repression, while contributing to the popularization of the idea that childhood experiences shape the individual. He is, however, most infamous for his overemphasis on the sex drive and the Oedipus Complex. Some of Freud's early stuff, which was basically drawn from his treatment of patients suffering from hysteria, suggested that you could cure people's psychological trauma by delving into their memories. Unfortunately, he got too dogmatic with it, and between his more dogmatic followers and those who only bothered to read his early writings, this trope got well-lodged into the zeitgeist and has been extensively mined ever since.

Sigmund Freud named or codified these tropes:

• All Psychology Is Freudian
• Freudian Couch
• Freudian Excuse
• Freudian Slip
• Freudian Slippery Slope
• Freudian Threat
• Freudian Trio
• Freud Was Right
• Id, Superego and Ego
• Oedipus Complex
• Primal Scene

Sigmund Freud is portrayed in the following media:

• A Dangerous Method