Psychoanalysis Tradition - AB Psych Chapter 1

Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815)

Suggested that patients’ problems were caused by an undetectable fluid in all living organisms called “animal magnetism,” which could become blocked.

Animal magnetism

An undetectable fluid found in all living organisms that Mesmer claimed could become blocked, causing problems.

Mesmerism

Mesmer’s practice of manipulating animal magnetism through unusual techniques, later concluded to be nothing more than strong suggestion

Double-blind experiment

A test where neither the patient nor the therapist knows which treatment is given; used by Benjamin Franklin to test animal magnetism.

Father of hypnosis

A test where neither the patient nor the therapist knows which treatment is given; used by Benjamin Franklin to test animal magnetism

Jean-Martin Charcot

Distinguished neurologist who demonstrated that some mesmerism techniques were effective for psychological disorders and helped legitimize hypnosis.

Josef Breuer (1842–1925)

Experimented with a different hypnotic procedure, asking patients to describe their problems in detail while in a highly suggestible state.

Unconscious mind

Discovered by Breuer and Freud as mental material beyond patient awareness that influences psychological disorders.

Catharsis

The release of emotional material when recalling and reliving emotional trauma made unconscious.

Insight

A fuller understanding of the relationship between current emotions and earlier events.

Anna O.

Breuer’s patient whose “hysterical” symptoms were traced to her father’s illness and treated one symptom at a time through hypnosis and “talking through.”

Hysterical symptoms

Psychological ailments like blurred vision, speech difficulty, and movement issues, believed by Breuer to have emotional causes.

Talking through

Breuer’s process of tracing symptoms to their hypothetical causes and addressing them in treatment.