How Does Psychoanalysis Treat Trauma?

Free association: The patient is encouraged to freely speak about their thoughts, emotions, and memories without censorship or judgment. This helps uncover unconscious material related to the trauma.

Interpretation: The psychoanalyst listens attentively and provides interpretations of the patient’s words, dreams, and behaviors. By pointing out patterns, defenses, and underlying conflicts, the analyst helps the patient gain insight into the trauma’s origins and its impact on their psychological well-being.

Transference: During therapy, the patient may develop strong feelings, positive or negative, towards the analyst. This is considered a reflection of unresolved issues and dynamics from previous relationships. By exploring these feelings, the analyst can help the patient process and work through trauma-related emotions.

Working through: Psychoanalysis emphasizes a long-term therapeutic relationship to facilitate the process of working through traumatic experiences. This involves revisiting and reprocessing past events, understanding their meaning, and integrating them into the patient’s life story.

Symbolic interpretation: Traumatic experiences are often too overwhelming to be consciously confronted and remembered. Psychoanalysis seeks to uncover unconscious symbolic representations of trauma, such as dreams, fantasies, or symptoms. By analyzing these symbols, the analyst helps the patient gain insight into the underlying trauma’s effects.