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Case Study Freud developed the theory and practice of psycho-analysis. He established with his patients a relationship, which maximized information relevant to the interpretation of their behavior, and this enabled him to find explanations of dreams, symptoms, and many other phenomena not previously related to desire. In consequence he was able radically to extend our commonsense psychology of motive. On Freud's account the significance of everyday actions is determined by motives which are far more numerous and complex than people are aware, or than commonsense understanding takes into account. The most basic and constant motives which influence our actions are unconscious, that is, difficult to acknowledge or avow. Such motives are residues of encounters with significant persons and situations from the past, often reaching back to early childhood; and they operate not to achieve realistic satisfaction, but rather to secure a form of pacification through representation.
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