Understanding the Freudian View

The Freudian view seemed to be that people consist of Ids, ego''s and superego''s. People are supposedly also inhabited by something called a subconscious, a mysterious entity with a tendency to think naughty thoughts and keep them a secret from one''s conscious self.

When this naughty subconscious takes over and controls one''s actions - without permission - people become neurotic. If the patient lies on a couch and talks, and a psychiatrist listens, the subconscious might be tricked into revealing itself. Once enticed out into the open by a therapist, the subconscious supposedly looses its power to cause neurosis.