What is the purpose of psychoanalysis?
Psychoanalysis is the most intensive form of an approach to treatment called psychodynamic therapy. Psychodynamic refers to a view of human personality that results from interactions between conscious and unconscious factors. The purpose of all forms of psychodynamic treatment is to bring unconscious mental material and processes into full consciousness so that the patient can gain more control over his or her life. Classical psychoanalysis has become the least commonly practiced form of psychodynamic therapy because of its demands on the patient’s time, as well as on his or her emotional and financial resources. It is, however, the oldest form of psychodynamic treatment. The theories that underlie psychoanalysis were worked out by Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), a Viennese physician, during the early years of the twentieth century. Freud’s discoveries were made in the context of his research into hypnosis. The goal of psychoanalysis is the uncovering and resolution of the patient’s interna
