Definition
Psychoanalysis is the theory of mind and method of treatment developed by Sigmund Freud from the 1890s onward. As a theory, it holds that mental life is dominated by unconscious processes — wishes, fears, memories, and conflicts inaccessible to direct introspection — and that psychological symptoms arise when these processes generate distress the conscious mind cannot resolve. As a therapy, it uses free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of the patient-analyst relationship to bring unconscious material into awareness, where it can be worked through.
Freud's structural model divided the mind into the id (instinctual drives), the ego (the reality-testing executive), and the superego (the internalized moral code). Many of his specific claims — psychosexual stages, the universal Oedipus complex, penis envy — have been substantially revised or abandoned. But the broader frame of unconscious motivation, defense mechanisms, and the formative weight of early relationships remains influential in psychodynamic therapy today.
Why it matters
How it works
The classical analytic technique rests on a few core moves. The patient lies on a couch and is asked to free associate — to speak whatever comes to mind without censoring. The analyst, seated out of view, listens for patterns, gaps, and repeated themes that suggest unconscious organization. Resistance — the patient's avoidance of certain topics or emotional shifts during sessions — is treated as data about where defenses operate. Transference — the patient's tendency to relate to the analyst as if they were a significant figure from earlier life — becomes a primary medium for understanding the patient's relational patterns and reworking them in the room.
Modern psychodynamic therapy has shortened the format (often once-weekly rather than four or five times a week), softened the rigid couch setup, and integrated research from attachment theory, infant observation, and cognitive science. Meta-analytic evidence supports its effectiveness for depression, anxiety, personality disorders, and chronic interpersonal difficulties — comparable to cognitive-behavioral therapy for many conditions, with some evidence of more durable post-treatment gains. Psychoanalysis as a comprehensive theory of mind has lost ground; psychodynamic therapy as a clinical practice has held it.