Psychoanalysis Definition
sīkō-ə-nălĭ-sĭs
psychoanalyses
noun
A method, developed by Freud and others, of investigating mental processes and of treating neuroses and some other disorders of the mind: it is based on the assumption that such disorders are the result of the rejection by the conscious mind of factors that then persist in the unconscious as repressed instinctual forces, causing conflicts which may be resolved or diminished by discovering and analyzing the repressions and bringing them into consciousness through the use of such techniques as free association, dream analysis, etc.
Webster's New World
The theory of personality developed by Freud that focuses on repression and unconscious forces and includes the concepts of infantile sexuality, resistance, transference, and division of the psyche into the id, ego, and superego.
American Heritage Medicine
The theory or practice of this.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
- depth psychology
- analysis
- group-therapy
- psychoanalytic therapy
- interpretation of dreams
- dream analysis
- depth psychiatry
- psychotherapy
- depth interview
- therapy
Origin of Psychoanalysis
-
From psycho- + analysis, after German Psychoanalyse.
From Wiktionary
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