Psychoanalysis Glossary

Innate biological and temperamental characteristics that influence psychological development and vulnerability to mental...

The analyst's capacity to receive, process, and metabolize the patient's projected emotional states.

A therapeutic interaction that provides a different emotional outcome than the patient's pathogenic expectations.

The analyst's emotional reaction to the patient, including unconscious responses that may interfere with or inform treat...

An analytic intervention that identifies and explores the patient's unconscious defensive strategies.

Klein's developmental achievement where the infant integrates good and bad aspects of objects and experiences concern an...

A defense mechanism and primary process where emotional energy is redirected from its original object to a substitute ta...

The unconscious psychological processes that transform latent dream thoughts into manifest dream content.

The realm of repressed mental contents that actively influence behavior and require psychoanalytic intervention to acces...

Freud's metapsychological model describing the distribution, transformation, and discharge of psychical energy within me...

Describes thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that are inconsistent with an individual's self-image and values, creating in...

Thoughts, feelings, or behaviors that are consistent with one's sense of self and acceptable to the ego.

The unconscious behavioral expression of transference-countertransference dynamics during analysis.

Klein's concept of a primary destructive impulse to spoil and destroy what is perceived as good in the object.

The analyst's technique of listening without focusing on any particular element, allowing unconscious patterns to emerge...

A defensive adaptation characterized by compliance and performance rather than authentic self-expression, often develope...

The persistence of libidinal investment in an earlier developmental stage, preventing full psychological maturation.

The fundamental psychoanalytic technique where the patient speaks whatever comes to mind without censorship or logical o...

An interpretation that links current behavior or symptoms to their developmental origins and early life experiences.

Winnicott's concept of maternal care that meets the infant's needs adequately without being perfect, facilitating health...

The psychological and physical space provided by caregiver or therapist that offers safety, support, and containment for...

The primitive, unconscious component of personality driven by the pleasure principle and immediate gratification.

A form of transference in which the patient attributes unrealistic positive qualities and powers to the analyst or thera...

Mental representations of significant others that are internalized and actively influence intrapsychic life and external...