Freud's early studies of Hysteria led him (and Breuer) towards what is termed the Seduction Theory of neurosis - a trauma theory.
His eventual abandonment of Seduction Theory marked a deepening of Psychoanalytic respect for the role of fantasy - especially unconscious fantasy - as a shaper of a person's character and neurosis. His realization that memory, like all other mental activity, is shaped to varying degrees by thoughts of which we are unaware, was a key which opened many doors of understanding of human nature.
Some of this is detailed here.
Thus the fad of ascribing mental illness and emotional problems to childhood trauma in the 1970s and 80s was a big Been There - Done That to Psychoanalysts.
Today, Psychoanalysts understand that trauma at any age is just one shaper among many, including genetics, unconscious activity, early relationships, ego characteristics and strengths and weaknesses, etc.
Re childhood sexual encounters, we know that the acceptance of this, or the disgust with this, is highly culture-specific. Whether that matters or not to the discussion I do not know.
In "My Lie": Why I falsely accused my father, one very destructive and suggestible person explains how she got caught up in the trauma fad. Freud, I imagine, would offer a grim smile of recognition at this story.
