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What is Psychoanalytic Therapy?

Tricia Christensen
By
Updated: May 17, 2024
Views: 8,616
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Psychoanalytic therapy or psychoanalysis is the first model of modern therapy, and was originally employed by Sigmund Freud. There have since been numerous adaptations of Freud’s original design, and it would be difficult to name them all. Often this form of therapy is called the “talking therapy” or the “talking cure,” and its goal is to reveal the unconscious thoughts and feelings that may affect conscious behavior and may result in neuroses.

Unlike a number of forms of therapy today, early psychoanalytic therapy typically took a very extensive time commitment on the part of the patient or analysand. Instead of once weekly meetings, which are fairly common in modern therapy, patients often met with their therapist three times a week. They did so in a therapist’s office, and would usually lie on a couch using free association and dream analysis to guide their thoughts in any direction. The therapist generally did not converse much with the client, except to ask them a question here and there.

A few things may have changed about the modern forms of psychoanalytic therapy. It can still mean meeting two to three times a week, and using things like free association. The traditional lounging couch may not be employed, and clients may simply face their therapist or sit in a chair. The degree to which the therapist comments on the client’s statements is variable, and psychoanalytic therapy does not always have to be based primarily on Freud’s work. Most Jungian therapists would class themselves as psychoanalysts too, for instance, as would most therapists considering themselves psychodynamic therapists, who take their cues from people like Jung, but also from Ernst Wilhelm von Brucke and Alfred Adler.

The progenitors of psychoanalytic therapy like Freud were doctors, and today some analysts may still be psychiatrists. They can also be licensed therapists, psychologists, or social workers. However, the term psychoanalyst isn’t a protected or licensed term, and any one can use it regardless of whether they have been trained. If searching for a psychoanalyst, it makes good sense to actually check credentials. Anyone claiming to be one should be a licensed counselor and affiliated with either the American or International Psychoanalytic Association.

There has been a huge shift in the types of therapy offered to people. Sometimes therapy is problem based and only occurs for short periods of time. In other circumstances, therapy is time-limited and bent on training the client to consider things in different ways, such as in cognitive behavioral therapy. There have been excellent studies on the usefulness of these forms of therapies, and this has greatly suited many insurance companies who will only pay for 20 sessions a year, unless a true mental illness can be proved.

However, it’s very clear that there still exists an important place for psychoanalytic therapy. Studies released in 2008 suggest that this form of therapy may be as, if not more, effective for certain conditions like anxiety disorder and borderline personality disorder, than are the now preferred treatments of cognitive behavioral therapy. The initial findings on cognitive behavioral therapy have sounded a death knell for psychoanalytic therapy, leading many schools to abandon their training programs. These studies suggest that might be unwise, and it is perhaps better to offer a full range of therapeutic options to clients to see which ones best fit.

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Tricia Christensen
By Tricia Christensen
With a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and years of experience as a WiseGeek contributor, Tricia Christensen is based in Northern California and brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to her writing. Her wide-ranging interests include reading, writing, medicine, art, film, history, politics, ethics, and religion, all of which she incorporates into her informative articles. Tricia is currently working on her first novel.

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Discussion Comments
By Armas1313 — On Feb 07, 2011

@Leonidas226

These allegations have started a wildfire of false rumor. Jung respected Freud, but was dismissed by him when Jung came up with his own theories to explain things in a different light. Freud sought to be controlling of the psychological community and would not tolerate disagreement. Jung's unfortunate work under the Third Reich was short-lived and caused Jung immense guilt to his death. He only ever speaks negatively of Nazism in his works, and many of his dear friends were Jewish.

By Proxy414 — On Feb 05, 2011

@Leonidas226

I believe I am right in saying that Jung was actually a Christian German who sought to see everything in a Germanic mystical light. He even did work with the Nazis. His former mentor, Freud, was Jewish, and they had a large falling out over trivial details. I think it seems to me that Jung had a flawed view of things.

By Leonidas226 — On Feb 03, 2011

Freudian psychoanalysis is much too shallow, encompassing the mere sexual libido of humans and trying to explain everything in terms of a sex drive. Jung takes this important motif much further, realizing that there is more to the human existence than a sex drive. Libido is not meant to apply to sex, but to love or passion of any kind. It is very spiritual, and is the essence of life. Understanding the deeper meanings and feelings in people's disorders is essential for long-term benefit.

Tricia Christensen
Tricia Christensen
With a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and years of experience as a WiseGeek contributor, Tricia...
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