psychoanalysis
Talking cure method
Psychoanalysis is a method of treating mental disorders developed by Sigmund Freud, based on exploring unconscious thoughts, childhood experiences, and repressed desires through techniques like free association and dream interpretation.
The term also refers to the broader theory of mind underlying this treatment—the idea that unconscious conflicts shape behavior and emotion.
A therapist practicing psychoanalysis is a psychoanalyst: She's been in psychoanalysis for years.
The approach has influenced psychology, literature, and cultural criticism, though its scientific standing remains contested.
Upholstered seating furniture
- sessionScheduled time for activity
- interpretationAssigned meaning
- abreactionEmotional release via recall
- catharsisPurification through emotional expression
Tragic Greek king
- ElectraMythic Greek princess
- idUnconscious instinctual drives
- egoOne's self-image
- superegoMind's moral overseer
libido · psychosexual · castration · Eros · oral · anal · phallic · genital
Unconscious blocking of thoughts
- denialRefusal to accept reality
- projectionSomething that extends outward
- sublimationSolid to gas directly
- displacementRemoval from usual location
rationalization · reaction-formation · regression · fixation · resistance · slip · symptom · condensation
Functional mental disorder
- psychosisSevere reality detachment
- complexHaving many interconnected parts
- traumaLasting psychological wound
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
conflict · ambivalence · splitting · idealization · devaluation · narcissism · borderline · hysteria
Therapist's emotional response to patient
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
- enactmentPassing into law
- attachmentConnection or fondness
- introjectionUnconscious absorption of external values
Of analytical psychology
- relationalConcerning connections between things
- contemporaryOf the present age
- classicalOf ancient Greece/Rome
- revisionistOne who alters accepted narratives
couch
Upholstered seating furniture
- sessionScheduled time for activity
- interpretationAssigned meaning
- abreactionEmotional release via recall
catharsis · neutrality · abstinence · termination · supervision
Oedipus
Tragic Greek king
superego · libido · psychosexual · castration · Eros · oral · anal · phallic · genital · latency
repression
Unconscious blocking of thoughts
- denialRefusal to accept reality
- projectionSomething that extends outward
- sublimationSolid to gas directly
displacement · rationalization · reaction-formation · regression · fixation · resistance · slip · symptom · condensation
neurosis
Functional mental disorder
- psychosisSevere reality detachment
- complexHaving many interconnected parts
- traumaLasting psychological wound
anxiety · conflict · ambivalence · splitting · idealization · devaluation · narcissism · borderline · hysteria · melancholia
countertransference
Therapist's emotional response to patient
- resistanceCapacity to withstand force
- enactmentPassing into law
- attachmentConnection or fondness
introjection · mirroring · empathy · rapport
Jungian
Of analytical psychology
- relationalConcerning connections between things
- contemporaryOf the present age
- classicalOf ancient Greece/Rome
- mental healthmental illness, therapist, therapists, psychiatrists, psychologist
- psychologypsychologist, therapist, neuropsychology, memory, learning
- therapiesart therapy, physical therapy, physiotherapy, speech therapy, music therapy
- therapytherapist, session, counselor, group therapy, family therapy
- counselingfamily therapy, group therapy, counselor, individual counseling, couples therapy
- psychoanalysisFreud, id, ego, unconscious, Sigmund Freud
psychoanalysisbehaviorism
Psychology studying observable conduct
behavioral therapy · cognitive-behavioral therapy · behavior modification · exposure therapy · crisis intervention
psychoanalysisbehaviorism
Psychology studying observable conduct
neuropsychology · cognitive psychology · neuroscience · evolutionary psychology · folk psychology
psychoanalysisevidence-based practice
Methods backed by research
empiricism · behavioral psychology · psychometrics · neuroscience · hard science
psychoanalyst, psychoanalysts, psychoanalyses, psychoanalyse