It began, of course, with Freud. Psychoanalysis refers both to a theory of how the mind works and a treatment modality. In recent years, both have yielded to more research-driven approaches, but psychoanalysis is still a thriving field and deals with subjective experience in ways that other therapies sometimes do not.
How Psychoanalysis Has Influenced Therapy
Freud’s ideas have been contested and criticized—yet his influence is also hard to overstate. Freud’s realization that much of mental life operates outside of awareness was a groundbreaking insight that propelled psychology forward. Establishing psychoanalysis—and the idea that talking about oneself and one’s troubles could alleviate mental illness and enhance well-being—has paved the way for the many forms of therapy available to help individuals today.
Psychiatry became a medical specialty in the 1800s, and it served people with severe conditions, such as psychosis , bipolar disorder , and depression , who lived in hospitals or psychiatric institutions. Freud began to study milder disorders, and their unconscious roots, which he termed neuroses. This led psychiatry to treat individuals who were not severely impaired but faced challenges regarding emotions, relationships, or work. This shift contributed to the development of numerous forms of therapy, as well as an ongoing debate about the classification and medicalization of mental illnesses.
A widespread and widely respected specialty in psychiatry in the 1960s, psychoanalysis has fallen in popularity since then. The reasons may include that analysis broadened to treat more personal and societal ills than it intended to, drug discovery and excitement around psychopharmacology , philosophy and art adopting psychoanalytic concepts, and insurance companies standardizing medical and psychological care.
Psychoanalytic therapy and Freud himself have received sharp criticism. Freud primarily relied on case studies and did not validate his work scientifically; he also misrepresented the outcomes of treatment in some cases. Some of his ideas may be overblown, such as people’s aggressive and sexual urges, while others are completely baseless, like the Oedipal complex and penis envy . Psychoanalysis is also an intensive treatment, requiring a substantial investment of time and money. For these reasons, some argue shorter treatments with stronger evidence bases are stronger options.
Explore More About Psychoanalysis
For a comprehensive understanding of psychoanalysis, read our complete guide: