In 1896, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) introduces the term psychoanalysis for the first time in French, while in 1899, "The Interpretation of Dreams" is published, an emblematic book that not only revealed the fruits of Freud's profound study on dreams as a meaningful part of an individual's psychospiritual life, but also offered a detailed, complexly formulated model for the functioning of the human psyche.

According to this, there is a conscious mind, somewhat limited, as well as an unconscious mind, comparatively cavernous, which controls most of our thoughts without our conscious awareness. In this book, Brett Kahr gathers — in ten chapters — valuable life lessons from the father of psychoanalysis for the 21st-century individual.

Why do we sabotage our own successes? What do slips of the tongue conceal and reveal about the human mind? What can we learn from Freud's observations on the psychology of love (and infidelity)? Why did the young Goethe want to "erase" his family? What is the essential function of wit? What is the relationship between the psychoanalyst and the archaeologist? And why should we rejoice in our insignificance?

Professor Brett Kahr is a clinical researcher in Psychotherapy and Mental Health at the Center of Child Mental Health in London, as well as at the Winnicott Clinic of Psychotherapy, and one of the curators of the Freud Museum.