A wishful thinking?

Still a wishful thinking? Not anymore.

I was, for a time, a Psychology student at Silliman University in Dumaguete City. One of the revered names in the field is of course the Father of Psychoanalysis himself, Dr. Sigmund Freud. Studying Psychoanalysis is one of the major prerequisites of the course, as well as to study the life of its founder and proponent. To realise a long-held dream, I visited the Sigmund Freud Museum at Berggasse 19, in the Alsergrund District of Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1971 and covered Sigmund Freud’s life story.

Standing outside the building, I was probably like a neurotic trying to suppress my extreme excitement; but when I actually entered Dr Freud’s home cum clinic, I was utterly exhilarated being in a place where he lived for forty-seven years. My anxious feelings were then released by a fascinating therapeutic technique of thinking aloud. It was made possible with the chance I had by ‘exchanging monologues’ with fellow Freudian fanatics. But of course without the famous ‘psychoanalyst’s couch’, as the original couch is in the Freud Museum in London. Dr. Freud once said, ‘The chief patient I am preoccupied with is myself.’

Well, I’m sometimes occupied with myself too.

To me, ‘thinking aloud’ is my preferable therapeutic technique to release my tension, that whenever I’m confronted my alibi is to say, “Freudian slip”.

Honestly, I was thrilled examining almost every corner of every room, especially all of the pieces of furniture. The items on display included his original belongings and parts of antique collections, which are all kept in this home turned into a present-day museum. The museum also has a lecture room, a mini-theatre, and a bookstore.

Being in Dr Freud’s house gave me a sense of fulfillment, even a belated success. Despite the fact that I did not finish my degree in psychology, unlike most other psych-related students or graduates, I was able to visit, stay for some time, and chat with fellow psych enthusiasts. I mingled with people from different parts of the world who simply adored his works and who, like me, had a chance to see up close and personal the real place of the person highly revered in the field of psychology. It felt like I was a patient personally attended to in a real psychoanalytic session and under Dr. Freud’s dominion.

To me, visiting Dr. Freud’s house was indeed another dream came true; another wish fulfilled!