What Is Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis designates concomitantly three things:
1. A method of investigating the mind and especially the unconscious mind; 2. A therapy of neurosis inspired by the above method; 3. A new self-standing discipline
based on the knowledge gained from the application of the investigation method and clinical experiments.
Therefore, there is nothing confusing in the definition of psychoanalysis. It is a specific technique for the exploration of the mind and a therapy inspired by this technique. We would put the
therapy on the forefront to make it even clearer that psychoanalysis is nothing speculative, that it binds more to psychotherapy and less to philosophy, art or culture in general.
| Sigmund Freud (left) with his friend Wilhelm
Fliess. Beside Freud, Fliess played a crucial role in the birth and the development of psychoanalysis |
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The science of psychoanalysis that we were mentioning at the third point comes to light from Freud's famous study called Totem and Taboo
, in which he is launching in social and anthropological analysis based on the scientific knowledge based on the results of psychoanalytic approach of psyche. Whoever wants to know more about applied
psychoanalysis needs to read this book.Psychoanalysis has become extremely familiar today. to the general public (in the West), after a long time being either rejected or glorified.
But the success of the 5th decade of the 20th century, especially in Europe, has paradoxically estranged it from its essence. Psychoanalysis has spread everywhere not only because
of the interest generated by psychoanalytic therapy. We could even say that the therapy was eclipsed by the virtues of applied psychoanalysis. The psychoanalysis
applied in literature, sociology, anthropology and ethnology, in religion and mythology has prompted the interest of an audience who had no calling to the clinical sphere.
Finally, psychoanalysis has also been highlighted by media coverage on the most common channels: radio, TV or cinema. Famous movies brought to the forefront
famous psychoanalysts like Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung. Several documentaries have been dedicated to Freud's life and work, and even a TV series that has amazed by the accuracy of the information provided.
The multitude and diversity of the sources of data on psychoanalysis today signal a major problem: psychoanalysis is no longer clearly defined in the eyes of
the general public. No one knows today exactly what the psychoanalysis is. Unfortunately, there is no effort to clarify this. That is why we need to clarify first of all what
psychoanalysis is. Then we will follow the other steps to enter the mystery of this strange discipline. Main Facts
| Freud reviewing his manuscript of Moses and Monotheism |
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Psychoanalysis is the creation of
Sigmund Freud.Freud lived most of his life in Vienna and died in London in 1939. He discovered psychoanalysis by synthesizing
ideas and information from different theoretical and clinical directions. A great contribution to the birth of psychoanalysis was the self-analysis that Freud himself subjected himself to.
Freud was a Jewish neurophatologist and attempted to create a psychoanalytic movement with the help of non-Jewish specialists to give his orientation more credibility. In this context, he collaborated with
outstanding personalities such as Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Sandor Ferenczi, Wilhelm Reich and more.The psychoanalytic movement initiated by Freud has experienced many ideological breaks and difficulties.
Today, it is inherited by a number of national or international societies that disputed their primacy.
Psychoanalytic Theories The best known is the theory applied to the structure of
the mind. Thus, the mind is made up of three instances: the self, the ego, the superego.The self is the source of psychic energy. The ego, the center of personality. The superego, is the moral instance
that has the functions of self-observation, self-criticism and punishment. The theory of the stages of psychosexual development, that is, the sexual theory, is also known to the public.
These stages describe levels of organization of psychic energy (libido) that start from the oral phase, then the anal and phallic. The first are characteristic of infantile
sexuality focused on autoerotic satisfaction. The final stage, in the adult, characterizes genital sexuality that is focused on the partner. The best known is the theory about dreams, their
function and their formation. According to Freud, dreams are meant to protect sleep. The Freudian definition of a dream is the hallucinatory realization of a repressed
desire. I have treated this part of psychoanalysis separately. The Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
Psychoanalysis states that the neuroses of the adult human are reminiscent of some psychic traumas of
childhood. These traumas are repressed - that is, inaccessible to the ego by normal means - and are translated into symptoms of languid anxiety in psychophysical manifestations such as vertigo,
arrhythmias, paralysis, hearing loss or even blindness. These symptoms, which copy those determined by organic affections, do not have organic but psychic causes.
Therapy therefore consists in trying to make conscious the causes of the appearance of unconscious symptoms in such a way that the mind understands the meaning of the symptoms and thus obtains remission.
In this sense, there are several methods of investigating the unconscious such as free associations, analysis of failed acts, analysis of dreams, etc. I have written in detail about the methods.
Finally, the psychoanalyst proposes an interpretation of the memories related to the moment of the appearance of the symptoms, intended to provide the patient with a
rational explanation of the cause of the symptoms he suffers from. It is a complex and long-term procedure that has two benefits: it does not involve classical medicine and it
focuses entirely on dialogue. This is done in a room that has nothing of the intimidating severity of a medical office or hospital. Actuality of Psychoanalysis Despite the criticisms and attacks against psychoanalysis
and Sigmund Freud, psychoanalysis has remained the best method of exploring the unconscious and treating mental disorders. And what is more important is that psychoanalytic
treatment does not appeal to medication. It proceeds only on the level of dialogue. That is, it provides an ecological approach that does not affect the chemistry of the human body.
On the other hand, psychoanalysis still offers us valuable interpretations of disturbances in social and political life and of artistic and literary creation.
Proof of clinical effectiveness are the cases presented succinctly on this site (nowhere else you can find case analysis published for the common reader).
Our articles deal with the psychoanalytic findings on the mind structure and offer teachings about the techniques of approaching the unconscious and the classical psychoanalytic therapy.
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