Freud og psykoanalysen i erindring og katharsis

Abstract

Classical Freudian analysis today has to compete with several hundred psychotherapeutic methods and techniques. In current discussion regarding the new forms of therapy, these are described as emotionally releasing or cathartic. It applies to proponents as well as critics of Breuer and Freud's cathartic method that the word catharsis is synonymous with emotional
abreaction. The word is also understood thus among contemporary psychoanalysists. The author explains the simplified theory of emotion and psychic trauma which is the foundation of many of these modem therapy forms. It is argued that the idea of catharsis, introduced by Breuer and Freud, should be more broadly conceptualized. With reference to the discussions conducted on Aristoteles' Poetics, the author suggests a redefinition of the catharsis in psychoanalysis as analogous to the catharsis of the tragedy. The central significance of recollection and reconstruction in the psychoanalytical process is argued, and with reference to Freud's "Nachtträglichkeit", an alternative to the medical trauma concept is introduced.