Classical Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud is said to be the originator of the classical theories of psychoanalysis. The various theories from Freud were made available in the form of various lectures published in the period from 1917 to 1933. Classical psychoanalysis aims at providing a deeper insight into you. This branch of psychoanalysis is aimed at helping a person to understand more about his or her behavior, strengths, as well as weaknesses. This method or therapy tries to reveal the unconscious self in you. 

The psychoanalysts who practice classical psychology are fully aware of the reason why the patient has approached them for treatment. So, they try all that they can to reduce the pain that he or she has been experiencing inwardly. These therapists thrive to obtain the complete, fulfilling solution to the problems that the patients have been facing. For this reason, the analysts are supposed to be mature enough and capable of handling difficult situations, and provide the patients with an authentic relief. The therapists follow several methods in treatment. Some of them make use of good humor in their therapy. In fact, the role of humor in therapy is a subject that is debated so much.

Many of us may find it difficult to imagine how humor can work on patients who are in complete pain. Taking into account the emotional state of the patient, some therapists have been making use of humor along with other aspects in their treatment, and it is found very effective in most cases. However, the therapists should be able to differentiate the methods of treatment on a case to case basis. The methods are decided, depending on the emotional levels, thought processes, comfort level and mental strength of the patient.

One of the several techniques used in classical psychoanalysis therapy is analyzing dreams. This technique is based on the fact that almost every human is interested in stories, myths, jokes, poems and everything related to language. These symbols of interest are carried on to our dreams also. However, some dreams may be painful, and cause trauma to the patient. In this technique, the patient is actually made to recall these traumatic or shocking dreams. These dreams provide the therapist with enough cues that indicate the thoughts or areas. The therapist needs to give importance to each clue, so that a proper diagnosis can be made.

Another way of analyzing the sub conscious mind is to depend on Para praxes, which are caused due to small tongue or pen slippages that occur when the contents of our unconscious mind briefly enter the conscious state. These might be our actual thoughts which are not in public sphere of influence, most often. Yet another method is word association. In this technique, the patient is provided a stimulus in the form of a word by a psychoanalyst. Then he or she is encouraged to speak out the word that enters their mind on hearing the stimulus. This will help to bring the unconscious mind into consciousness, and that can be later analyzed with the help of other techniques. This technique is based on the fact that the way we associate certain words helps the therapists to tell a lot about you as a person.

Projective test is another therapy used in classical psychoanalysis. Here, the patient is shown a series of abstract images, and are asked to tell a tale on them. This is another way of exposing all that is there in the inner mind of the patient. Once the unconscious mind starts opening up, further therapies can be made use of to interpret the problems that the patient suffers from. Further, the patient is allowed to talk freely about anything that comes to their mind. This technique is called free association. This will help the patient to slowly reveal the traumatic feelings that they have buried in their sub conscious minds.

Hypnosis is yet another method that classical psychoanalysts commonly depend on. In this method, the patient is made to relax and then go into a trance. The therapist tries to probe into the unconscious mind of the patient, and can easily access it. This helps to reveal the problems and trauma in the sub conscious mind of the patient.

These were the common Freudian methods of psychoanalysis. These were revealed to the world by the publications and research papers provided by Freud. Though Freud took various steps to convince therapists around the world about the effectiveness of classical theory of psychoanalysis, there are still various debates regarding these.