May
25
Psychoanalysis is an approach to psychotherapy that was originally developed by the Austrian Sigmund Freud. Treatment involves the client, or “analysand” discussing fantasies, dreams and experiences in a manner known as “free association”, where the client is able to talk about anything that comes to mind. The therapist then analyses this information to determine the unconscious conflicts that are believed to be causing the the maladaptive emotions, thoughts and behaviours of the client. The psychotherapist then interprets these unconscious conflicts for the client, helping the patient to develop insight into causes and possible resolutions of psychological problems.
In psychoanalysis, the problems of the present are always rooted in conflicts of the past and the client is required to give the therapist a great deal of detail about the life experiences of the client, in order to provide the therapist with a picture of the life in which conflicts have developed.