Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis comprises a set of theories and techniques to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behavior. Psychoanalysis is a talk therapy method for treating mental disorders. Established in the early 1890s by Sigmund Freud, it takes into account Darwin's theory of evolution, neurology findings, ethnology reports, and clinical research, including findings of his mentor Josef Breuer. Freud developed and refined the theory and practice of psychoanalysis until his death in 1939. In an encyclopedic article, he identified four foundational beliefs: "the assumption that there are unconscious mental processes, the recognition of the theory of repression and resistance, the appreciation of the importance of sexuality and of the Oedipus complex."

Two of Freud's early colleagues, Alfred Adler and Carl Jung, soon developed their own methods, individual and analytical psychology, respectively, which he said were not forms of psychoanalysis. After the author's death, neo-Freudian thinkers like Erich Fromm, Karen Horney and Harry Stack Sullivan created some subfields. Jacques Lacan, who referred to his approach as a retour à Freud (return to Freud), described his metapsychology as a technical elaboration of the three-instance model of the psyche and examined the language-like structure of the unconscious.

Psychoanalysis has been a controversial discipline from the outset, although its influence on psychology and psychiatry is undisputed. Evidence suggests psychoanalysis, especially long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy, can be effective for certain disorders, though its overall efficacy remains contested. It may have benefits in the long term over other psychotherapies.