Psychoanalysis Glossary

The ongoing unconscious and conscious changes that occur in analysis through interpretation, working through, and intern...

A modified form of analysis using psychoanalytic principles but with less frequency and more therapist activity.

Specialized training supervision focusing on unconscious processes in both patient and analyst within the therapeutic re...

A comprehensive clinical assessment integrating unconscious conflicts, developmental history, and defense mechanisms to...

The analytic process of piecing together forgotten or repressed childhood experiences based on current symptoms, dreams,...

A defense mechanism involving retreat to an earlier developmental stage or more primitive functioning under stress.

Klein's concept of the psychological drive to restore or repair objects perceived as damaged by one's aggressive impulse...

The unconscious tendency to repeat traumatic or conflictual experiences in various life situations.

The unconscious opposition by a patient to bringing repressed material into conscious awareness during analysis.

Bion's concept describing the analyst's receptive mental state that allows unconscious communication to be processed and...

A seemingly innocent childhood memory that unconsciously conceals or represents more significant, often traumatic experi...

The rational, logical mode of thinking governed by the reality principle and characteristic of conscious mental activity...

A psychoanalytic approach emphasizing the development and maintenance of a cohesive sense of self.

Ego's warning system that activates defenses in response to perceived internal or external threats, preventing more seve...

The analyst's bodily responses and physical sensations that provide information about the patient's unconscious communic...

The primitive defense mechanism of dividing self or others into all-good or all-bad categories.

Freud's tripartite model of the psyche comprising id, ego, and superego as distinct but interacting psychological struct...

A defense mechanism where unacceptable impulses are channeled into socially acceptable or creative activities.

In psychoanalytic theory, the moral component of personality that incorporates societal rules and parental values.

The final stage of psychoanalytic treatment involving working through separation issues and consolidating therapeutic ga...

The specific mechanisms by which psychoanalytic treatment produces psychological change and symptom relief.

Controlled return to earlier developmental modes within the safety of the analytic relationship to facilitate psychologi...

Freud's early model of mental functioning organized by levels of consciousness: conscious, preconscious, and unconscious...

Personal psychoanalysis required for candidates training to become psychoanalysts, combining therapeutic and educational...