written by Jonathan Alvin
Abstract
This article differentiates between psychoanalytic theory and the practice of psychoanalysis. It will discuss why many therapists continue to use psychoanalytic theory as a resource and why many therapists who seek therapy seek psychoanalytic therapists. Lastly, to help readers understand the difference between these areas, a brief historical understanding of psychoanalytic theory will be offered, and then followed by information regarding psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
Introduction
Psychoanalysis is method of talk therapy within the behavioral health field that seeks to help people who are suffering from everyday common issues as well as psychological pain. Psychoanalysis is different than popular and contemporary psychotherapy in many ways.
History
Psychoanalytic theory and practice was originally written and developed by Sigmund Freud, a physician and neurologist trained in 19th century Austria. Freud and his colleagues were like medical professionals who practice today; they met with patients who suffered from pain, provided a diagnosis and a treatment plan that included various medicinal therapies or techniques. The theory and practice of psychoanalysis emerged from Freud’s practice as a neurologist when the anatomical and pathophysiological research of his day failed to provide answers for the symptoms and questions that presented in his clinic.
Freud’s original intention however, was to ambitiously provide a medical scientific explanation for psychological phenomena. His paper Project for a Scientific Psychology (1895) had a thesis similar to current day neuropsychology, but his research was impaired by the medical technologies of his time. Freud was unable to examine the body in the ways necessary to make observational and empirical inferences about the intersections of the body and mind. Nevertheless, Freud’s paper used what knowledge was available to him to theorize connections between the anatomy, physiology, and development of the human nervous system in order to provide answers for psychological and behavioral questions.
The year Project for a Scientific Psychology was published (1895) Freud also published a paper with his colleague Josef Breuer on the theory and treatment of hysteria (Breuer & Freud, 1895).
–which has since been picked up by contemporary neuropsychoanalysts–but began to postulate and theorize about an alternative foundation of the mind: the unconscious. For Freud, the unconscious consisted of all that was impressed upon a mind, but forgotten through processes of psychological defense.
Practice Today
Fast forwarding to today, psychoanalytic theory and practice is both similar and different from Freud’s psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic theory continues to have a fundamental appreciation of the role of the unconscious but has been significantly widened and developed in order to appreciate the diverse and complex manifestations of psychological life throughout the developmental lifespan. Psychoanalytic theory and therapists might conceptualize cases through many lens that can include but are not limited to: the unconscious mind, fantasy life, developmental life, early life, parental and family systems, defensive strategies, theories of the mind and how thoughts happen, and even neuropsychological science.
The laboratory of psychoanalytic therapy