UNDERSTANDIN

G
PSYCHOANALYSI
S AS A
THERAPEUTIC
TECHNIQUE
The Role of the
Unconscious in
Psychoanalysis
The unconscious mind includes all of the
things that are outside of our conscious
awareness, such as early childhood
memories, secret desires, and hidden
drives. According to Freud, the
unconscious contains things that we
might consider to be unpleasant or even
socially unacceptable. We bury these
things in our unconscious because they
might bring us pain or conflict.

While these thoughts, memories, and

urges are outside of our awareness,
they still influence how we think and
behave. In some cases, the things that
are outside of our awareness can
influence behavior in negative ways and
Techniques and methods
Dream interpretation
According to Freud, dream analysis is by far the most important psychoanalytic technique. He often
referred to dreams as "the royal road to the unconscious." 1 Psychoanalysts may interpret dreams to get
insight into the workings of your unconscious mind.

Free association
Free association is an exercise during which the psychoanalyst encourages you to freely share your
thoughts. This can lead to the emergence of unexpected connections and memories.

Transference
Transference occurs when you project your feelings about another person onto the psychoanalyst. You'll
then interact with them as if they were that other person. This technique can help your psychoanalyst
understand how you interact with others.
The Therapist-Patient
Relationship in
Psychoanalysis
If we go back in time to Freud’s era, we easily realize that in that time
the therapeutic relationship was considered as the main factor of the
psychoanalytic process.
The therapeutic relationship will be based on trust, closeness and
security to make patients feel comfortable in sharing their thoughts
From this therapeutic relationship,
patients may extrapolate the past experiences with therapists outside
of the therapeutic setting, embracing an attitude of thirst for
relationships which in return can satisfy their needs. This idea has
been confirmed by many studies
The pros of
Psychoanalys
is as a
Therapeutic
Technique
With comparison to cbt
Focuses on emotions
Where CBT is centered on cognition and behaviors, psychoanalytic therapy Free-flowing
explores the full range of emotions that a patient is experiencing Where other therapies are often highly structured and goal-oriented,
psychoanalytic therapy allows the patient to explore freely. Patients are free
to talk about fears, fantasies, desires, and dreams.
Explores avoidance
People often avoid certain feelings, thoughts, and situations they Emphasizes the therapeutic
find distressing. Understanding what a client is avoiding can help both the
psychoanalyst and the client understand why such avoidance comes into
play
relationship
Because psychoanalytic therapy is so personal, the relationship between the

Exploration of past psychoanalyst and the patient provides a unique opportunity to explore and
reword relational patterns that emerge in the treatment relationship

experienced
Other therapies often focus more on the here-and-now, or how current
thoughts and behaviors influence how a person functions. The
psychoanalytic approach helps people explore their pasts and understand
how it affects their present psychological difficulties. It can help patients
shed the bonds of past experience to live more fully in the present.
 Modern
psychoanalysis
Contemporary psychoanalysis is an interpersonal experience that
emphasizes the healing properties of two or more people
collaboratively making sense of life in ways that are meaningful to
the client. Unlike traditional psychoanalysis, contemporary
perspectives emphasize the meaning of the client’s unique and
subjective experiences. Contemporary psychoanalysis has absorbed
important features of the humanistic and existential approaches to
treatment, and feminist psychoanalytic thinkers have challenged
many of the patriarchal assumptions implicit in traditional
psychoanalytic theory. The aim of modern psychoanalysis is to cure
patients by freeing them of maladaptive and destructive
repetitions that dominate their lives and behavior
s Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Critisism of
Psychoanalysis
•Freud thought that most people are not making their own choices about what to do. He
thought people are born with feelings and they just do them, but he didn’t think about
things like free will or genetics.

•Traditional psychoanalysis is a long, expensive type of therapy. It might not be good for
people who only need to talk about one thing, or for people with less money.

•Psychoanalysis requires people to be able to explore themselves and work through

problems. If people can’t do that, then they should not do psychoanalysis. That is because
they might not be able to work out their problems and think about what happened.

•Freud’s theory mostly composes of things that are impossible to see or define. This means
that there is no solid evidence to support it.

•Two common criticisms, espoused by laypeople and professionals alike, are that the theory
is too simple to ever explain something as complex as a human mind, and that Freud
overemphasized sex and was unbalanced here (was sexist).

Traditional psychoanalysis involved a distancing between therapist and client—the two did not even
face each other during the sessions. In recent years, many clients have preferred a more interactive
experience with the therapist.
ID: yeah whatever thanks
Ego : thank you so much
Superego: I appreciate and
am forever grateful for this
enlighting experience