Dictionary Definition
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Extensive Definition
Abreaction is a psychoanalytical term for
reliving an experience in order to purge it of its emotional
excesses; a type of catharsis. Sometimes it is a
method of becoming conscious of repressed traumatic events.
Early in his career, psychoanalyst Carl Jung
expressed interest in abreaction, or what he referred to as "trauma
theory", but later decided it had limitations concerning the
treatment of neurosis.
Jung stated that:"though traumata of clearly aetiological
significance were occasionally present, the majority of them
appeared very improbable. Many traumata were so unimportant, even
so normal, that they could be regarded at most as a pretext for the
neurosis. But what especially aroused my criticism was the fact
that not a few traumata were simply inventions of fantasy and had
never happened at all".
Jung believed that the skill, devotion and
self-confidence regarding the way the analyst did his work was much
more important to the patient than the rehashing of old traumatic
emotions.
Abreaction therapies
Abreaction therapy is form of psychotherapy in abreaction is used to assist a patient suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder by re-living the experience in a controlled environment. Hypnosis is often used as a tool for recall in abreaction therapy.The efficacy of this therapy has been likened to
"lancing a boil". Exposing
the wound releases the "poison" and allows the wound to heal. In
the same way that the lancing process is painful, re-living the
trauma can be highly distressing for the patient, and memories of
the pain can be physically felt.
Pop culture references
- In Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow, the main character experiences numerous abreactive episodes.
- In Peter Shaffer's 1973 play Equus, the climactic scene is an abreactive episode.
References
External links
abreaction in Spanish: Abreacción
abreaction in Italian: Abreazione
abreaction in Serbian:
Абреакција