Psychoanalysis emerged in 1900 with the publication of
the book “The interpretation of dreams” by Sigmund Freud. Freud defined it as a
general theory of mental functioning, a method of investigation and
psychotherapeutic technique.
For Psychoanalysis no two patients are the same, even
if their diagnosis is the same. Psychoanalysis treats the symptoms and consequent
suffering by attempting to reorganise the personality structures where the
pillars or foundations of the symptoms reside.
Psychoanalysis is distinguished from other forms of psychoanalytic
psychotherapy essentially by its specific procedures, such as the use of a couch and the greater frequency of sessions,
which facilitates the free association of thoughts and emotions and the
appearance in the therapeutic relationship of the predominantly unconscious difficulties
and constraints that lie at the basis of psychological suffering, so as to
overcome them.
The acquisition of the skills to be a psychoanalyst requires complex
theoretical-practical training carried out in companies accredited by the International
Psychoanalytic Association (IPA), composed of associations of 45 countries distributed
over all the continents.