About psychoanalysis

Founded by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), psychoanalysis uses speech and listening as a means of addressing the psychological problems and conflicts that cause us suffering in life.

In psychoanalytic work, the analyst invites the patient to speak freely, to “say whatever comes to mind,” while offering a listening ear. The patient is encouraged to express what troubles them, to put their suffering into words, while the analyst listens and reflects back to them what is said, so that they may begin to hear themselves in a new way.

Within a psychoanalytic framework, each person is seen as singular and unique, with their own distinct life experience and personal history. The symptomatic forms of suffering that we experience in life are understood to be meaningful, resulting from the contingencies of our personal history and familial dynamics. By exploring how and why we suffer, psychoanalysis offers us the possibility to move beyond the anguish we experience and gain a new understanding of ourselves and what we desire in life.

Working with the unconscious mind

Central to psychoanalysis is the idea that unconscious factors, which lie outside our conscious awareness, shape and colour much of our experience of the world. The unconscious contains repressed thoughts, memories, impulses, and desires that, due to their traumatic or conflicting nature, have been pushed out of conscious awareness yet continue to influence us, shaping how we think, feel, and act in profound ways. In psychoanalysis, we work actively with manifestations of the unconscious, such as dreams (which Freud referred to as the "royal road to the unconscious"), slips of the tongue, and bungled actions in order to bring repressed material to light so that it can be explored and worked through in analysis.

The psychoanalytic work

Over the course of psychoanalytic treatment, the analyst and the patient meet weekly (or in some cases more frequently) on an ongoing basis, working together to explore and interpret the patient’s speech while listening to how the unconscious expresses itself. In the analytic session, the patient is invited to express whatever comes to mind, regardless of how unacceptable, irrelevant, or nonsensical it may seem. In turn, the analyst lends a listening ear, paying close attention to the patient’s speech, asking questions, emphasising keywords and phrases, and offering interpretations. This process of free association and open and attentive listening is the foundation of psychoanalytic work, as it allows unconscious material to arise and be explored in speech that would not otherwise be accessible to the patient. It is the act of bringing to light and working through this unconscious material that is decisive for psychoanalytic treatment.

How we understand and treat symptoms in psychoanalysis

In psychoanalysis, symptoms such as anxiety, depression, phobias, addiction and recurring relationship issues are seen to be expressions of underlying unconscious conflicts. In this way, symptoms are understood to be products of one’s personal history and experience; they have their own sense or logic and express an unconscious meaning that needs to be expressed and heard. Psychoanalytic work does not aim for immediate symptom relief; instead, it seeks to explore the symptom and the associations it gives rise to so that the unconscious conflicts that underlie it can be worked through, which, in turn, typically resolves the presenting symptom.

Why pursue psychoanalysis rather than another form of therapy?

While there are many different types of therapy that can help address specific issues, psychoanalysis is particularly suited to address long-standing and pervasive forms of psychic suffering. Psychoanalysis is an intensive form of treatment, requiring sustained work and commitment from both the patient and the analyst. This intensity, coupled with psychoanalysis’ emphasis on the individuality of the patient and the central importance of unconscious factors, allows the patient to develop a more comprehensive understanding of their experience as a whole and why they suffer. This approach increases the likelihood that they will resolve conflicts and problems that other modes of treatment may have been unable to address, and in doing so, undergo lasting change.