John, I think your ranking of Marx-Freud-Dawrin in terms of relative correctness is right, though I believe you underrate Freud absolutely. Even if his one right idea was only what you said it was–that we all create self-protective fictions–that is no small thing. (Nor is it original. Freud always said he had been anticipated by the poets–Shakespeare, the Greeks.) The usefulness of a talking cure, and of working with dreams, and what happens in a transference, were also enduring contributions.
Re: Freud and science, there have been a few studies (with all the proper p’s and q’s) that showed benefits of psychoanalysis. My wife’s mentor, the late Ted Reiss, showed that people in analysis earn more money (that should interest conservatives). And yes, he had a control group.