What is Psychoanalysis?
Psychoanalysis is a talking therapy that takes into account the role of the unconscious in shaping our feelings, desires, and behaviours. At the root of the psychoanalytic experience lies a particular form of listening. The analyst will offer a safe non-judgemental space for the analysand to speak freely about emotions, experiences, and ideas that might not find an outlet elsewhere. This may involve exploring recurring patterns, relational configurations, memories, dreams, and key life events to better make sense of past and present circumstances. Instead of promoting quick fixes or standardised interventions, psychoanalytic psychotherapy encourages careful reflection, helping the analysand to uncover the root causes of their struggles in order to support the creation of personal solutions and lasting changes.
Why Psychoanalysis?
The reasons for beginning a psychoanalytic journey are deeply personal and vary from person to person. Some may be confronting a major life event, such as a loss, or struggling with distressing symptoms, like panic attacks, addictions, eating disorders, or sexual issues. Others may not know exactly what is wrong in their life but might still experience an underlying feeling of depression, a growing state anxiety, or some confusion with respect to their identities or desires. In any of these cases, speaking with someone who listens attentively and without judgment can support the creation of personal strategies and solutions, facilitate coming to terms with traumatic experiences, or encourage the pursuit of new projects and ideas. As Jacques Lacan once put it, “psychoanalysis gives us a chance, a chance to start again”.