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It is now almost 10 years ago that I attended a psychoanalytic conference at the University of Toronto. After it was over, I was waiting for a cab to take me to the airport. Adolph Grunbaum was there also, and after a brief discussion, we decided to share a cab. Grunbaum is a major figure who denies the validity of Freudian theory as a natural science in his writings as he did at the conference. He questioned that repression could be proven and that clinical case material was more contaminated than Freud admitted. I thought it would be worth informing him of the hundreds of controlled laboratory experiments in subliminal perception. This empirical evidence demonstrated that the unconscious does exist and that it affects behavior and psychopathology. Even though these experiments used strict scientific methodology and were double blind to avoid observer bias, Grunbaum was not at all interested, and simply brushed aside whatever I said. Other critics are more vociferous against psychoanalysis, and I am sure that despite their logical arguments no amount of scientific evidence would change their emotional bias.
Some psychoanalysts are also resistant to understanding biological and scientific findings, since they feel that psychoanalytic theory based on clinical case studies is sufficient for their clinical work with patients. However, findings in neuroscience can provide an empirical foundation for psychoanalytic theory and enable us to become aware of how biological and environmental factors interact to produce psychopathology. Research findings can be helpful in determining which form of therapy is most effective, whether it be psychoanalysis, dynamic psychotherapy, or another approach.
Freud (1950), who was a trained and accomplished researcher in neurophysiology, originally attempted to develop a firm scientific basis for psychoanalysis in his “Project for a Scientific Psychology.” He was aware that memory was stored in the brain and transmitted through synapses.