Theory

Classical psychoanalysis is the most challenging of all the psychotherapies in terms of time, cost and effort. It is usually conducted with the patient lying on a couch and with the analyst seated out of his/her sight, to hear what the patient has to say. The treatment sessions last about 50 minutes and are normally held four or five times a week for at least three years. The primary technique used in psychoanalysis, as well as in other dynamic psychotherapies, which consists in permitting the unconscious material to enter the consciousness of the patient, is called "free association."

According to Freud, the patient "is to tell us not only what he can say intentionally and willingly, what will give him relief like a confession, but everything else as well that his self observation yields him, everything that comes into his head, even if it is disagreeable for him to...
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