Psychoanalysis

Date: The 1880’s forward
Type of psychology: Developmental psychology; psychological
methodologies; psychotherapy
Fields of study: Classic analytic themes and issues; general constructs
and issues; humanistic-phenomenological models; humanistic
therapies; models of abnormality; motivation theory; personality
theory; psychodynamic and neoanalytic models; psychodynamic
therapies; thought
Psychoanalysis is a form of intensive psychotherapy to treat emotional suffering, based
on the concept that people are often unaware of what determines their emotions and behavior.
By talking freely, while in an intensive relationship with the psychoanalyst, a
person is able to overcome worries that may have limited his or her choices in life. Psychoanalysis
is also a comprehensive theory of the mind and a method for understanding
everyday behavior.
Key concepts
• anxiety
• certification
• countertransference
• depression
• free association
• inhibitions
• psychoanalyst
• psychoanalytic institutes
• psychoanalytic psychotherapy
• psychotherapy
• symptoms
• transference
• unconscious
Psychoanalysis began as a method for treating emotional suffering. Sigmund
Freud (1856-1939), the founder of psychoanalysis, made many discoveries
by studying patients with symptoms such as excessive anxiety (fear
that is not realistic) or paralysis for which no physical cause could be found.
He became the first psychoanalyst (often called analyst) when he developed
the method of free association, in which he encouraged his patients to say
whatever came to mind about their symptoms and their lives. He found that
by talking in this way, his patients discovered feelings and thoughts they had not
known they had. When they became aware of these unconscious thoughts
and feelings, their symptoms lessened or disappeared.
Psychoanalysis as a form of psychotherapy continues to be an effective
method for treating certain forms of emotional suffering, such as anxieties
and inhibitions (inner constraints) that interfere with success in school,
work, or relationships. It is based on the understanding that each individual
is unique, that the past shapes the present, and that factors outside people’s
awareness influence their thoughts, feelings, and actions. As a comprehensive
treatment, it has the potential to change many areas of a person’s functioning.
Although modern psychoanalysis is different in many ways from
what was practiced in Freud’s era, talking and listening remain important.
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is a modified form of psychoanalysis, usually
with less frequent meetings and more modest goals.
From the beginning, psychoanalysis was more than just a treatment. It
was, and continues to be, a method for investigating the mind and a theory
to explain both everyday adult behavior and child development. Many of
Freud’s insights, which seemed so revolutionary at the beginning of the
twentieth century, are now widely accepted by various schools of psychological
thought and form the basis for several theories of psychological motivation,
most theories of child development, and all forms of psychodynamic
psychotherapy. Some of Freud’s ideas, such as his theories about women,
turned out to be wrong and were revised by other psychoanalysts during the
1970’s and 1980’s. Other ideas, such as those about the nature of dreams, although
rejected by some scientists during the 1980’s and 1990’s, were revisited
by other scientists by the beginning of the twenty-first century. Psychoanalytic
ideas and concepts are used in communities to solve problems such
as bullying in schools and can be applied in many other fields of study.
In the early years of psychoanalysis, Freud trained most psychoanalysts.
Later, different schools of psychoanalytic thought branched out from this
original source. Groups of psychoanalysts joined together in organizations,
and each organization developed its own standards for training psychoanalysts.
There were no nationally accepted standards for psychoanalytic training
in the United States until the beginning of the twenty-first century, when
several of these groups joined together to establish an Accreditation Council
of Psychoanalytic Education. This council agreed to core standards for
psychoanalytic institutes (schools that train psychoanalysts). Psychoanalytic
psychotherapy, while practiced by trained psychoanalysts, is also practiced
by psychotherapists, who are not trained as psychoanalysts. 639