What is Psychoanalytic Therapy?: Developed by Sigmund Freud in the late 1800s, psychoanalytic therapy (or psychoanalysis) is a talking therapy that focuses on bringing the unconscious to the conscious mind.
Freud theorised that most psychological issues stem from unconscious conflicts, often rooted in childhood experiences, which may be contributing to your current experiences and actions. Bringing these conflicts into awareness is the only way to alleviate the symptoms of psychological distress.
How does psychoanalytic therapy work?: Many of the concepts used in psychoanalytic therapy are part of a common therapeutic language now, including Freud’s structural model of the mind, comprising the id, ego, and superego, and his work on psychosexual development.
In psychoanalysis, your therapist is likely to prefer frequent and regular meetings, and traditional psychoanalysis can last for many years, although modern psychoanalytic therapy is likely to be more flexible. Although many therapists incorporate some elements of psychoanalysis in other forms of therapy, pure psychoanalysis is now quite uncommon.
