PSYCHOANALYSIS

                                                   PSYCHOANALYSIS
                  

              A method of treating mental illness,origination with Sigmund Fred,in which a psychiatrist (analyst) helps a patient discover and confront the causes of the illness.Many psychiatrists believe that these causes are buried deep in the unconscious of the patient and can be brought to the surface through such techniques as hypnosis and the analysis of dreams.Psychoanalysis emphasizes that mental illness usually originates in repressed sexual desires or traumas in childhood.   

              Method of treating mental disorders that emphasizes the probing of unconscious mental processes. It is based on the psychoanalytic theory devised by sigmund freud in Vienna in the late 19th and early 20th century. It calls for patients to engage in free associated of ideas, speaking to therapists about anything that comes to mind.Dreams and slips of the tongue are examined as a key to the workings of the unconscious mind, and the “work” of therapy is to uncover the tensions existing between the instinctual drive of the ID,the perceptions and actions of the EGO,and the censorship imposed by the morality of the superego.Careful attention is paid to early childhood experiences (especially those with a sexual dimension), the memory of which may have been repressed because of guilt or trauma; recalling and analyzing these experiences is thought to help free patients from the anxiety and neuroses caused by repression as well as from more serious illnesses known as psychoses (see neurosis,psychosis). Some of Freud's early associates, notably Carl Gustav Jung and Alfred Adler,rejected his theories on many points and devised alternative methods of analysis. Other important figures in psychoanalysis, including Erik Erikson,Karen Horner,and Erich Fromm, accepted the basic Freudian framework but contributed their own additions or modifications.

MEDICAL DEFINITION OF PSYCHOANALYSIS

1

: a method of analyzing psychic phenomena and treating mental and emotional disorders that is based on the concepts and theories of Sigmund Freud, that emphasizes the importance of free association and dream analysis, and that involves treatment sessions during which the patient is encouraged to talk freely about personal experiences and especially about early childhood and dreams

2

: a body of empirical findings and a set of theories on human motivation, behavior, and personality development that developed especially with the aid of psychoanalysis

3

: a school of psychology, psychiatry, and psychotherapy founded by Sigmund Freud and rooted in and applying psychoanalysis