Delve into the World of Psychoanalysis
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You might have heard the term psychoanalysis before, but you don’t have the slightest idea what it is in the first place. Read on below to know more about this rather interesting and intriguing world and discover the many benefits it has to offer.
What is Psychoanalysis?
Psychoanalysis is a theory and therapy based on the human’s unconscious. This was first adopted by Sigmund Freud during the latter part of the 19th century and since then, it has gone through many evolutions.
The iceberg might be a cliché-sounding comparison, but this is the perfect description for the unconscious mind. The tip of the iceberg seen above the water is noticeable and big, and this part is the conscious mind. It is where your desires, feelings, and other observed beliefs are.
But found below the water is the unseen part of the iceberg that is way much bigger, and this is the subconscious. These include the beliefs, memories, traits, feelings, and other thoughts not found in the conscious mind. Although it cannot be observed under most situations, your unconscious mind is a puppet master that has a great impact on the way you think and act.
According to Freud, the unconscious mind exists since if it were conscious, this will end up damaging or threatening you. Some traumas, for example, might be unconscious, and it could cause you pain if you remembered it.
There are several ways for the unconscious to slip into your conscious mind. There are times when it comes through dreams. There are also instances when it comes in the form of slips of the tongue. Sexual desires, for instance, are usually expressed through slips of the tongue.
Psychoanalysis is often the key to getting a person’s unconscious mind exposed to the open. Free association is a technique used by Freud.
In free association, the patient sits down and tells the therapist whatever comes to mind. The patient must never censor any thoughts and let the therapist be aware of all thoughts. It will let the therapist discover the line of thought of the patient. The point here is not to judge the patient’s thoughts. Instead, the goal is to be curious and determine the desires of the person.
The technique is rather free-form and both parties don’t know how this will go. The therapist usually links different themes together according to the thoughts and comes up with assumptions and about the unconscious desires of the patient. But the primary objective is to help the patient discover themselves and learn what really makes them tick.
Tenets of Psychoanalysis
There are several tenets that makeup psychoanalysis and the primary ones are the following:
Forgotten Childhood
Based on psychoanalysis, the personality and traits of a person can be inherited and involve the things that happen during the early part of their childhood. The events that take place during early childhood are usually forgotten yet these can change the personality of a person for the worse or for the better. Even the smallest incidents you might have had when you were still a kid may shape and affect who you are.
Liberating Yourself
The best way to liberate yourself is to bring your unconscious to the front of your mind and use therapy for resolving your unconscious memories and desires.
Repression
There will be a form of resistance if you attempt to make the unconscious into the conscious. These might come in the form of your repressed memories.
Subtle Revelations
Your unconscious can be seen in several ways. It can come in the form of slips of the tongue, dreams, and other unexplainable behaviors.
The Unconscious
Your unconscious mind may bring out a lot of behaviors that you have. Most of your personality traits might be because of hard-to-find unconscious desires.
When the Unconscious and Conscious Clash
Every time you experience conflict between your unconscious and conscious mind, this may result in numerous side effects like anxiety or depression.
Transference
Transference is considered as the primary focus of psychoanalysis and this is for a good reason. This is when the client begins to project their feelings regarding another person on the therapist. This is a common occurrence in therapy, and this can be in the form of negative or positive experiences or also sexual like being in love with the therapist.
While transference might be a form of conflict in the therapy, this can improve the overall experience, too.
Positive transference encompasses taking the good parts of the relationships with the therapist. For instance, you might treat the therapist as your good friend and see them as the one friend that listens to you all the time whatever happens.
Negative transference, on the other hand, is where you take negative emotions and place them onto the therapist. For instance, you might see your therapist as your nagging teacher or an authority figure who doesn’t understand you.
There is something interesting about sexualized transference on the other hand. You start to feel an attraction towards your therapist, whether it is romantic or sexual. You might transfer your feelings from another person you love to your therapist.
Countertransference is yet another kind of transference. It is when the therapist also ends up projecting their feelings towards the client. The therapist also has their own struggles, and the result of this is countertransference.
When you feel that you are starting to experience transference, make sure you talk about it with your therapist. Admitting this might be embarrassing but you need to do it for your therapy to progress.
Find Help Before It’s Too Late
Finding an expert in psychoanalysis might do wonders to improve your life. Even though you think you can solve your issues on your own, you might have underlying problems that only a professional can bring to the forefront. Now is the time to try out this form of therapy and experience its excellent results.
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