Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is a family of psychological theories and methods within the field of psychotherapy that seeks to elucidate connections among unconscious components of patients' mental processes, and to do so in a systematic way through a process of tracing out associations. In classical psychoanalysis, the fundamental subject matter of psychoanalysis is the unconscious patterns of life as they become revealed through the analysand's (the patient's) free associations. The analyst's goal is to help liberate the analysand from unexamined or unconscious barriers of transference and resistance, that is, past patterns of relatedness that are no longer serviceable or that inhibit freedom. More recent forms of psychoanalysis seek, among other things, to help patients gain self-esteem through greater trust of the self, overcome the fear of death and its effects on current behavior, and maintain several relationships that appear to be incompatible.

Psychoanalyses in groups

Though the most commonly held image of a psychoanalytic session is one in which a single analyst works with a single client, 'group' sessions with two or more clients are not unknown. Carrying out psychoanalysis in groups can be motivated by economic factors (individual analysis is time-consuming and expensive) or by the belief that clients may benefit from witnessing the various client-client and analyst-client interactions. In most forms of group-based analysis, the group is initially an artefact created by the analyst selecting the various members; the assumption is that the common relationship to the analyst will lead to the formation of a genuine group situation. Group psychotherapy of 'natural' groups (e.g. of whole families) seems to be a relative rarity.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~