psychoanalysing
Exploring hidden motives
Psychoanalysing is examining someone's thoughts, feelings, or behavior through the lens of psychoanalysis—the therapeutic approach developed by Freud that emphasizes unconscious motives and early experiences.
In casual use, it often means amateur attempts to explain someone's psychology: Stop psychoanalysing me—I just don't like olives.
The spelling psychoanalyzing is standard in American English.
Tragic Greek king
- idUnconscious instinctual drives
- egoOne's self-image
- superegoMind's moral overseer
- libidoInnate erotic drive
psychosexual · defense mechanisms · repression · projection · displacement · denial · rationalization · oral stage
Unfiltered verbal thought flow
- couchUpholstered seating furniture
- transferenceRedirecting feelings to substitutes
- countertransferenceTherapist's emotional response to patient
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
interpretation · catharsis · slip · insight · working through · abreaction · regression · abstinence
Involuntary sleep visions
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
- unconsciousNot awake or aware
- instinctsInnate behavioral tendencies
- archetypesUniversal symbolic patterns
complexes · symbolism · fantasy · suppression · shadow · collective unconscious · primal scene · preconscious
Able to wait calmly
- sessionScheduled time for activity
- treatmentCare for an ailment
- breakthroughSudden important advance
- terminationAct of ending something
attachment · rapport · boundaries · confidentiality · long-term · intensive · emotional processing
Scrutiny of one's thoughts
- self-awarenessInsight into one's psyche
- reflectionReturned light or thought
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- ruminationProlonged, repetitive thinking
self-scrutiny · self-questioning · inner dialogue · self-discovery · metacognition · self-understanding · uncovering · excavating
Oedipus
Tragic Greek king
libido · psychosexual · defense mechanisms · repression · projection · displacement · denial · rationalization · oral stage · anal stage
free association
Unfiltered verbal thought flow
- couchUpholstered seating furniture
- transferenceRedirecting feelings to substitutes
- countertransferenceTherapist's emotional response to patient
resistance · interpretation · catharsis · slip · insight · working through · abreaction · regression · abstinence · neutrality
dreams
Involuntary sleep visions
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
- unconsciousNot awake or aware
- instinctsInnate behavioral tendencies
archetypes · complexes · symbolism · fantasy · suppression · shadow · collective unconscious · primal scene · preconscious · sublimation
patient
Able to wait calmly
- sessionScheduled time for activity
- treatmentCare for an ailment
- breakthroughSudden important advance
termination · attachment · rapport · boundaries · confidentiality · long-term · intensive · emotional processing
self-examination
Scrutiny of one's thoughts
- self-awarenessInsight into one's psyche
- reflectionReturned light or thought
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
rumination · self-scrutiny · self-questioning · inner dialogue · self-discovery · metacognition · self-understanding · uncovering · excavating · exploring
psychoanalysingsmall talk
Polite trivial conversation
chatting · casual conversation · shooting the breeze · chit-chat · bantering
psychoanalysingtaking at face value
Believing something as presented
ignoring · glossing over · overlooking · disregarding · tuning out