A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis

Freud's first lecture opens with an odd move. He tells his audience he will try to talk them out of coming back.

It is exactly what he does with patients. Most doctors play down the difficulty of a new treatment and promise results. Freud does the reverse: he spells out the length, the effort and the sacrifice, and promises nothing, because the outcome depends on the patient's own understanding and perseverance.

So he treats the lecture hall the way he treats a neurotic patient. He lists what stands in the way of psychoanalysis, and warns anyone tempted to make a career of it that universities and society will turn suspicious and hostile. Whoever still comes back next time, he adds, is welcome. The invitation is real. It simply arrives after the warning.