Why Psychoanalysis?

Why Psychoanalysis?

There are many lines of work in the field of mental health and this can be unsettling. While it is not possible to say that any approach works for everyone at all times, it is possible to justify one´s line of work and say what to expect from it. After reading this, if you feel inclined to begin an analysis, please contact me to book an interview so that we can discuss if analysis is indeed suited for you at this moment.

A bit of History

One cannot talk about psychoanalysis without going back to its history, for psychoanalysis has an origin. It was created in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries by Sigmund Freud, a neurologist practicing in Vienna.  In his daily clinic Freud encountered patients who suffered from a variety of symptoms that could not be organically explained and did not respond to any medical intervention. This impelled him to engage in a clinical research, developing at the same time a therapeutic approach that revelaed the origin and structure of these symptomatic constructions. He provisionally named his method a “talking cure” but soon proposed “psychoanalysis” (1896), to highlight the fact that this clinical approach aims to analise, or unpack, the repetitive symptomatic constructions, to give way to the invention of new possibilities of  thinking and dealing with life. 

Psychoanalysis therefore relies on its own set of concepts and theoretical body, being a distinct field in relation to psychology and psychiatry. It has been continuously practiced worldwide, receiving contributions from contemporary practitioners, keeping it updated and apt to deal with contemporary forms of suffering. It has become an object of interest of linguists, philosophers, writers, artists, educators, health care practitioners and many more, maintaining with these areas an open dialogue that benefits all.

Why did I choose psychoanalysis?

Psychoanalysis holds a very consistent, synthetic, bold and encompassing theory of the psyche, allowing it to understand and treat a large variety of psychical manifestations. It sees the psyche as a dynamic whole, elucidating phenomena such as symptoms, inhibitions, compulsions, psychossomatic manifestations, mood disorders and many others, as well as their relation to everyday psychical processes: dreams, day-dreams, jokes, forgetfulness, creativity, love… In this dynamic view, mental suffering is not seen as a deficiency or lack, but as a partly unsuccessful attempt to respond to issues that have proven to be too challenging, conflictual and overwhelming for a particular person, due to his/her life story. In other words, for psychoanalysis, mental suffering has a role and a function that needs to be elucidated in each particular case so that it can be given up, opening the way for new possibilities and long and lasting changes. This means that psychoanalysis works at the level of singularity – ones depression is not the same as anothers -; it aims to understand the  “why, how and what for” of that form of suffering for that particular subject, so that it can eventually give way to new forms of thinking. It is a long-term process that brings consistent results, also having immediate effects; changes may be felt throughout the whole process.

Psychoanalytical theory also conceives subjects as social and historical beings, that is, as concrete subjects responding to the social demands and circumstances of their place and time. It therefore holds a very consistent and unique understanding of the interrelation between concrete reality, culture and the psyche. Due to this, it can help subjects with different cultural backgrounds and beliefs, working simultaneously at the level of the singularity and the particularity of the social context.

It is this possibility of working at the level of singularity, without isolating the subject from their social context, that made me opt for psychoanalysis. The study of the theory is fascinating and the effect on analysands is consistent  and long-lasting. 

How does the process unfold?

In psychoanalysis each case is analysed in its singularity, since it results from a particular life experience. Due to this it is not possible to say beforehand how long the process will take or its ideal frequency; these need to be assessed and discussed in the interview(s) that precede any analysis. Free association – or speaking whatever comes to the mind during the session is the only requirement for an analysis. The sessions may vary in length, but mostly take around 45 minutes.