Psychoanalysis relies on speaking in a way that reveals what is most truthful. While mental suffering is often labelled by the names of disorders such as depression or anxiety, there is a broader sense in which we are all at odds with our ourselves. It is therefore, possible to explore a psychoanalysis as a kind of education of the self. You may come along complaining of trauma, alienation, addiction or a mood disorder, but what we deal with in analysis – the human subject – is more than any of these. Psychoanalysis addresses the subject and their desire. It is a way to find out who we are, what we want, and what is stopping us from enjoying our lives. To enter into an analysis is to find the words to say (and remake) what has made us. It involves talking (and hearing) in a way that reveals what has been hitherto hidden. In so doing, psychoanalysis alleviates suffering, and does so differently to other psychological methods. The result is a life less burdened by the tendency to repeat behaviours and beliefs that cause suffering.
What is the method involved in psychoanalysis?
September 9, 2012 By
