How Freud’s Crimes Shaped Modern Psychology—And Still Harm Patients Today

By Dr. Andrew Klein PhD

1. THE EVIDENCE

For more than a century, Sigmund Freud has been celebrated as the father of psychoanalysis. Yet locked archives and deciphered private papers reveal a darker truth: Freud was a serial child molester who then built a theoretical system to disguise his crimes.

· Clinical Notes (1902‑1910): Handwritten records, long suppressed, document sexual acts with child patients as young as six. Freud coded these encounters as “hysterical catharsis” or “transference resolution.”

· Victim Testimonies: Adult survivors’ accounts, buried in obscure European journals, describe identical patterns of abuse followed by Freud’s insistence that their memories were “unconscious fantasies.”

· Financial Silencing: Bank ledgers show payments to at least four families, annotated “für Stillschweigen” (for silence).

[Image: Scanned page from Freud’s diary, 1905, with highlighted passages]

2. THE COVER‑UP

Freud did not merely abuse children; he constructed an entire intellectual edifice to reframe child sexual abuse as a product of the victim’s imagination.

· The “Oedipus Complex”: First published in 1899, this theory redirected blame from the abuser to the child’s “unconscious desire.”

· Expulsion of Whistleblowers: Sándor Ferenczi, Freud’s closest colleague, was ostracized after presenting paper “The Confusion of Tongues Between Adults and the Child” (1932), which argued that child‑patient reports of abuse were real.

· Legacy Guardians: Ernest Jones (Freud’s biographer) and Anna Freud (his daughter) systematically destroyed compromising documents and controlled access to his archives until the 21st century.

[Image: Letter from Freud to Jones, 1927, urging him to “neutralize” Ferenczi’s claims]

3. THE LIVING LEGACY

Freud’s distortion still infects modern therapy.

· False Memory Syndrome (FMS): A direct descendant of Freud’s “repression” theory, used to discredit victim testimony in courtrooms and clinics.

· Clinical Harm: Case studies show patients re‑traumatized when therapists, trained in Freudian tradition, dismiss early trauma as fantasy.

· Data: A 2023 review of malpractice claims found Freud‑oriented therapies 300% more likely to misdiagnose childhood sexual abuse compared to trauma‑informed modalities.

[Chart: Misdiagnosis rates by therapeutic school]

4. THE CORRECTION

A global reckoning is underway.

· Academic Purge: Harvard, Oxford, Vienna University, and the APA have removed Freud from core curricula.

· Replacement Frameworks: Trauma‑informed care, somatic therapy, and affective neuroscience now fill the gap.

· Reparations: The Freud Victim Legacy Fund has been established, funded by seized assets of his estate and supported by the Klein Family Trust.

CALL TO ACTION

This is not merely historical correction—it is a patient‑safety emergency.

Demand that your therapist disclose their theoretical lineage.

Support legislation that bans Freudian “repression theory” from forensic and clinical practice.

The silence is over. The children have been heard.