Psychoanalytic Concept
Core concepts used across psychoanalytic theory and clinical practice.
Evenly Suspended Attention
Evenly Suspended Attention Evenly suspended attention is the psychoanalytic listening stance in which the analyst avoids selecting in advance which parts of a patient's speech are important. The method complements
Parapraxis
Parapraxis Parapraxis is a psychoanalytic concept referring to an apparently accidental error in speech, memory, reading, writing, or action that may express an unconscious conflict or wish. Often known in
Aphanisis
Aphanisis Aphanisis is a psychoanalytic concept that names the feared disappearance, fading, or extinction of sexual desire. Introduced by Ernest Jones and later reworked in Lacanian theory, the term helps
Foreclosure
Foreclosure Foreclosure is a psychoanalytic concept most closely associated with Jacques Lacan's account of psychosis. It describes a radical exclusion of a key signifier from the symbolic order, rather than
Container-Contained
Container-contained is a psychoanalytic concept associated with Wilfred Bion's account of how unprocessed emotional experience can be received, held, and transformed within a relational field. The concept matters because it
Nirvana Principle
Nirvana Principle The Nirvana Principle is a psychoanalytic concept describing the mind’s tendency to reduce excitation, tension, or disturbance toward the lowest possible level. It is closely associated with Freud’s
False Self
False Self False self is a psychoanalytic concept associated especially with Donald Winnicott's account of early emotional development, compliance, and the protection of a vulnerable inner life. It describes a
Acting Out
Acting out is a psychoanalytic concept describing the expression of unconscious conflict through action rather than reflective speech, memory, or symbolic elaboration. It names moments when a person repeats or
Negative Therapeutic Reaction
Negative therapeutic reaction is a psychoanalytic concept describing a paradoxical worsening or resistance that appears when treatment begins to help. The term identifies situations in which improvement, relief, or interpretive
Overdetermination
Overdetermination Overdetermination is a psychoanalytic concept describing how a single symptom, dream element, action, or fantasy can be produced by multiple psychic causes at once. It means that one formation