The psychotherapeutic meaning of the concept of K. lies in the emotional shock experienced by a person under the influence of a secondary experience of personal pathogenic and (or) stressful affects that served as a source of mental trauma, and in the subsequent adequate response, i.e., liberation from disease-causing symptoms. To. is both a purposeful process of an organized therapeutic effect, and an achieved state of purification of a suffering subject. The Latin synonym for K. is abreaction.
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) introduced the concept of k. (purification) into the description of the states experienced by a person, characterizing the impact of tragedy on the viewer, which, through compassion and fear, makes internal purification. Ancient Greek tragedy has a mythological and theological basis, thus, the experience of a sacred action, participation in which is due to the personal significance of what is happening, causes a reaction. ancient theater follows the ritual actions of the mysteries, which, like the later liturgical practice of Christianity, contribute to experiences of a cathartic type. Visual perception and verbal expression (and self-expression) are the active mechanisms of K.
Architectonics religious life at all times it was built taking into account the organization of the ability to tranquilize the communal and (or) personal situation; both the ancient initiations and the Christian sacraments, above all confession, served this purpose.
K. is a confessional approach to the treatment of mental trauma, using the abreaction of emotions associated with them. "Thanks to Breuer (Breuer J.) and especially Freud (Freud S.) this kind of psychoanalytic therapy has been developed to the level of a special method. ... We allow the patient to speak out, help him choose the appropriate direction in cases where, as it seems, he is silent about something significant, we demonstrate a complete understanding of what he is saying, and we convince him of our own moral tolerance. Such "confessions" often bring relief "(Jaspers K., 1997). According to Jung (Jung C. G.), we are talking not about the intellectual statement of traumatic experiences, what is needed is "confirmation of such recognition with the heart" (Jung, 1988). In the psychotherapeutic methods of various schools, a secular version of the institute of religious confession is used. The analogues are also sincere comforting conversations, i.e. a simple, relaxed conversation with a benevolent person about their problems and anxieties, but the weaker the connection with the traditional rules of interpersonal communication (a student with a mentor, a junior with a senior, etc.), the more superficial the effect of purification .
Another explanation of the mechanisms of K. is offered by Atanasov from the standpoint of the teachings of I. P. Pavlov about higher nervous activity. K. is a physiological (respectively, pathophysiological) process of reducing and normalizing excitation in the pathodynamic structure of inert overexcitation that occurs under the influence of psychotrauma. It can be the subject of research in both normal and pathological physiology. In the first case, this concerns minor psychotraumas that are experienced almost daily, but do not cause neurosis. The overexcitation of the functional structure quickly levels off and disappears. This daily K. is a conscious and well-known phenomenon. A superstrong irritant for certain individuals can become the reason for the emergence of pathodynamic foci with high inert excitation, which persist long time and are the subject of pathophysiology. Not everything in the process of reducing excitation can be conscious, and besides, not everything conscious is adequate (Atanasov At., 1969).
With severe mental trauma in people predisposed to neurotic disorders, spontaneous K. does not occur, and that is why psychotherapeutic intervention is required. As a healing technique, or, more precisely, as the principle of any technique, K. is used in many psychotherapeutic methods, united by the concept of "cathartic psychotherapy." As one of the mechanisms of therapeutic influence, K. is included in such methods of psychotherapy as psychoanalysis, analytical psychology, psychodrama, group psychotherapy, and many others.
See also Atanasov's Autologocatharsis, Hypnotic Abreaction, Cholakov's Decapsulation, Krestnikov's Artificial Reproduction of Affective Experiences, Asatiani's Method of Reproductive Experiences, Breuer's Psychocathartic Method, Pharmacological Abreaction.
CATHARSIS
from the Greek catharsis - cleansing) - a strong emotional shock that is not caused real events life, but their symbolic display, for example, in a work of art. The term was introduced into psychology and psychoanalysis from ancient tragedy.
CATHARSIS
cathersis; Katharsis) - confession, confession; the black (out of four) stage of Jungian analytic therapy; confessional approach to the treatment of necrosis, using emotions associated with
"The beginning of psychoanalysis is in fact nothing more than the scientific discovery of an ancient truth: even the very name given to the ancient method - catharsis, or purification. Is the original in the classical rituals of initiation (initiation). The original kitharsic method was that the Nazi was in a state of hypnosis or without it included but the interaction with their mental "rear", in that state that the systems of yoga in the East describe as meditation or contemplation. However, unlike yoga, the goal of catharsis is to achieve sporadic emergence in the form of images or feelings of those vague images, who have separated in the darkness from the invisible realm of the unconscious and loom like shadows before the inner eye.Things that are suppressed and forgotten return back in this way.In itself, that is the same acquisition, although sometimes painful, because it is base, inferior, and even nothing at all. worthless, worthless all the same belong to me in the form of my shadow and also constitute my essence and meaningful "mass". How can I be completely essential. without clearing your shadow? I must also have a dark side if I claim integrity - realizing my shadow, I once again confirm that nothing human is alien to me. In any case, if such a discovery of one's own totality remains private and hidden, then it reproduces the original conditions from which the neurosis arose, that is, the split-off complex. Stealth prolongs my isolation, and the damage can only be partly repaired. And in the wake of confession, confession, I give myself "into the hands" of the human race, finally freeing myself from the burden of moral exile. The goal of the cathartic method is total recognition: not just a mental awareness of the facts themselves with the head alone, but their heartfelt recognition and a genuine release of repressed emotion" (CW K), par. 134; YPP, par. 134).
CATHARSIS
Greek katharsis - cleansing) is a psychoanalytic (see psychoanalysis) term denoting spiritual relief that occurs in a person after strong emotional experiences such as affect or stress.
CATHARSIS
catharsis) - originally - an emotional shock, a state of internal purification, caused in the viewer of an ancient tragedy as a result of worrying about the fate of the hero, as a rule, ending in death. A strong emotional shock caused not by real life events, but by their symbolic display - for example, in a work of art. In general, it is a state of internal purification that occurs after certain experiences and upheavals. In psychotherapy, it is a special method of influence aimed at identifying and discharging unconscious impulses, as well as a treatment phase during which the patient recalls and reproduces forgotten amazing scenes from his life that were the impetus for a psychoneurotic disease. This is how the client cleanses his psyche (=> cathartic; cathartic method). In psychoanalysis, a special technique therapeutic impact, which consists in discharging, reacting to an affect that was previously forced out into the subconscious and serves as the cause of a neurotic conflict.
CATHARSIS
Greek katharsis - purification, liberation from something). The concept underlying some of the methods of psychoanalytic treatment. According to it, a person who has suffered a psychic trauma and has not reacted to it with an outburst of affect remains complex experiences that are subjected to repression from consciousness. This kind of affectively-saturated unconscious complex experiences, being in the subconscious, are the cause of painful reflections in consciousness and somatics. Their symbols are the symptoms of neurosis, psychosomatic illness. According to J. Breuer and S. Freud, the way to treat such conditions is to revive in memory, to become aware of all the repressed experiences, to release and respond to the "impaired" affect.
For this purpose, special methods of psychocatharsis therapy were developed (see Breuer's method of hypnocatharsis, S. Freud used the method of free associations.
Modern psychotherapists, who do not even accept psychoanalytic concepts, use in their practice certain methods and techniques of psychocathartic treatment.
CATHARSIS
from the Greek katharsis - purification) - a term used in aesthetics, in the psychology of art, psychoanalysis.
Aristotle in "Poetics" introduced the term "K." in his doctrine of tragedy to denote the mental discharge experienced by the viewer in the process of emotional shock, empathy.
L. S. Vygotsky in The Psychology of Art (1925) put forward a hypothesis about the applicability of the concept of different types art: "no other term used so far in psychology expresses with such fullness and clarity the central fact for the aesthetic reaction that painful and unpleasant affects are subject to a certain discharge, destruction, transformation into opposites, and that the aesthetic reaction as such in essence is reduced to such a K., i.e., to a complex transformation of feelings "; "in this transformation of affects, in their self-combustion, in an explosive reaction, leading to the discharge of those emotions that were immediately evoked, lies the K. of the aesthetic reaction."
In psychoanalytic theory, this term refers to the discharge (removal) of tension and anxiety due to the bringing to consciousness of repressed ideas, experiences, desires and memories. Hence the name "cathartic method" of Breuer-Freud, which was a preliminary step to psychoanalysis. (B. M.)
Catharsis
catharsis). Emotional release. From the point of view of catharsis, aggression finds the following explanation: the aggressive impulse is weakened when the individual "releases" the energy of aggression, either through aggressive action or due to imaginary aggression.
Catharsis
catharsis) The term "K." used in aesthetics and in the psychology of art in relation to the reaction of the viewer, and in psychoter. - in connection with the release of the repressed affect or mental. energy. In ancient Greek, the word katharsis most often meant "cleansing", especially from guilt. However, its most famous use in antiquity is found in the enigmatic definition of tragedy by Aristotle as an action (drama), "performing by compassion and fear the purification (K.) of such feelings." In psychoanalytic literature, the term first appears in the Studies in Hysteria (Studien uber Hysterie, 1895) by Joseph Breuer and Sigmund Freud, although both the use of the term and the method itself were proposed by Breuer. He sought to eliminate the symptoms of hysteria by inducing hypnotic patients to relive or recall forgotten childhood events—often, but not always traumatic—and the feelings associated with them. Freud suggested that in such cases the mental or the nervous energy, which would lead to the primary affect, was diverted to the formation of hysterical symptoms and that the memories of these events were forced into the unconscious. When a previously repressed memory and the affect associated with it are introduced into consciousness in a hypnotic state, last topic most discharged and the symptom disappears. This process of affective discharge has received another name - "reacting." Freud considered the cathartic method to be the forerunner and surviving core of psychoanism. In modern psychother. outside the psychoanalytic tradition with the word K. in general sense denote the therapeutic release of emotions or stress relief, incl. and that which could be conscious or be associated with conscious experiences. K. is the central concept of psychodrama and important aspect most models of abbreviated psychotera. and crisis intervention. Sometimes the same name "talking out", "acting out" or "ventilation". Implosive therapy deliberately tries to evoke strong emotions in order to achieve cathartic release of tension. See also Abbreviated Therapy, Crisis Intervention, Implosion Therapy F. Hansen
Hello, dear readers of the blog site. Catharsis literally means " cleansing», « release", physical and mental recovery.
Wikipedia interprets this concept as a tragic experience that carries an educational element, which causes an indispensable change in the state of consciousness in better side. A sort of stress therapy, after which all your problems will seem "flowers".
In search of a more precise meaning, the reader must turn to the philosophy of the ancient period and psychology.
Catharsis in philosophy
Aristotle was the first to speak of catharsis. ancient philosopher. He used this term in his work "Poetics", denoting the process release from negative emotions based on fear and compassion.
The main characters in the tragedy of the thinker are experiencing the process of purification of the soul, aimed at achieving inner harmony. The apogee of catharsis is the repression of mental affect, after which the person experiences relief, pleasant devastation and calmness.
Aristotle applied this concept in the context of art and said that any spectator watching a drama experiences a negatively charged affect that fades by the end of the performance.
But also this word used in other areas of life all in the same Greece:
- in medicine, catharsis is the release of the body from a painful illness (recovery);
- religion interprets it as a cleansing of the soul from filth and suffering;
- ancient Greek ethical doctrine meant the upliftment of the spirit and mind.
Philosophical literature contains more than 1500 interpretations of catharsis.
The concept of catharsis in psychology
Psychologists use catharsis as a method based on a person's ability to recreate disturbing images in order to replay in their head difficult moments in their lives that led to a psychological problem.
This eventually (with the right behavior) allows the client get rid of negative conditions accompanied by the experience of negative emotions in connection with certain life events.
In fact, with the help of catharsis, a person completes his gestalts (?), which remained open and caused discomfort (old conflicts, prohibitions). In the same way, you can get rid of phobias.
As a result of applying the method, the following results are achieved. favorable mental changes:
- the feeling of anxiety weakens or goes away for good;
- negative emotions lose their charge;
- a person begins to better understand his inner world: to hear your desires and needs;
- general positive impact on the individual: the emotional background improves, which entails a change in life for the better.
Catharsis (experiencing a problem) proceeds in an acutely negative form (screams, tears and other spewing out of negativity, but with a “lifeline” in the form of a psychotherapist) and at its highest point the negative is transformed into a positive perception. Like a mood boost after you've cried.
To make it more clear, I will give a somewhat answered example. You were greatly offended (you yourself were offended) and you go to the gym, where you beat the pear to exhaustion, while splashing out all the negativity on it (including with words). After that, it becomes easier for you and you are even ready to forgive the offender.
Unfortunately, the state of catharsis is very difficult to achieve because of the internal prohibition of many people on the expression of emotions. Only an experienced psychologist is capable of this.
Where does this method originate?
This term arose in psychology thanks to Sigmund Freud, who was the founder of psychoanalysis. He believed that motives not recognized by the individual give rise to various emotions, under the influence of which a person experiences mental disorders and, as a result, psychosomatics - bodily symptoms.
To achieve awareness of repressed ideas, in order to save the client from suffering, he offered the following methods:
- association method;
- with the help of word interpretations;
- reservations.
Specialists adhering to the paradigm of psychoanalysis are convinced that to cure mental illness Can only through the experience of catharsis.
How to achieve catharsis
To experience such a state on your own, first of all, time and diligent practice are needed. Also, the most important condition is sincere desire person to solve their problem.
Understanding the mechanism of catharsis, what it is in reality, can slightly reduce the fear of living this experience.
After all, before experiencing liberation from negative emotions, will have to strengthen them a hundred times and live.
To achieve emotional discharge, you need to go through 3 steps:
- Think hard about what is bothering you: it must be some specific problem or situation. Mentally reproduce it in all colors, not missing even the smallest details. Try to fully immerse yourself in the created image-situation.
- Together with the image will come negative feelings and bodily sensations. The task of the second step is to strengthen them as much as possible.
- Focus on the most powerful, peak experiences and live them sincerely, with full dedication. Gradually, the intensity of emotions will begin to decrease, and soon you will feel great relief, and with it a bright joy.
It is possible that in the third stage you will be visited by a feeling of fear, succumbing to which you will distance yourself from the state of catharsis. Frightened by a bright emotional affect, a person, as a rule, falls out of the mood and after that he will have to start all over again.
That is why the willingness and determination of a person to get rid of an oppressive state are important.
Ways to get rid of problems
There are two types of catharsis:
- Household is an emotional discharge from anger, resentment or hatred through suffering, tears, screaming. For example, if you direct anger addressed to a specific offender to a punching bag, then after a while there comes relief and a desire to forgive the person who did you badly.
- High catharsis is a spiritual cleansing with the help of art. Vivid empathy dramatic characters book, movie or theatrical production contributes to the combustion of one's own affects through compassion.
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Catharsis In Gestalt, a manifestation of emotion, sometimes violent (anger, screams, sobs), usually leading to the disappearance of a feeling of depression and a release of tension or dedramatization. In gestalt, catharsis is not specifically sought, but it can often occur spontaneously, in particular, after amplification (See:). It is almost always followed by verbalization.
Brief explanatory psychological and psychiatric dictionary. Ed. igisheva. 2008 .
Catharsis
(from the Greek katharsis - cleansing) - associated with obtaining pleasure, the process and result of the cleansing and ennobling effect on a person of various factors that cause corresponding experiences and affects.
Traditionally, the concept of K. is interpreted as a category of ancient Greek philosophy and aesthetics, denoting the essence and effect of aesthetic experience associated with “purification of the soul” (“purification from affects”). Sometimes the concept of K. qualifies as a category art psychology. It was used in the philosophy of Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Plato, Aristotle and others, who paid attention to the cathartic (“cleansing”) effect of music (Pythagoras), stage tragedy (), etc. modern times the concept of K. has become widespread in psychology and psychotherapy. To a decisive extent, this was due to its use in the theory and psychotherapeutic practice of I. Breuer and Z. Freud (see) and their achievement of a real purification of the psyche from pathogenic information and alleviation of the suffering of patients.
Brief psychological dictionary. - Rostov-on-Don: PHOENIX. L.A. Karpenko, A.V. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky. 1998 .
Catharsis
(catharsis)
Initially, it was an emotional shock, a state of internal purification, caused in the viewer of an ancient tragedy as a result of worrying about the fate of the hero, which, as a rule, ended in death. A strong emotional shock caused not by real life events, but by their symbolic display - for example, in a work of art. In general, it is a state of internal purification that occurs after certain experiences and upheavals. In psychotherapy, it is a special method of influence aimed at identifying and discharging unconscious impulses, as well as a treatment phase during which the patient recalls and reproduces forgotten amazing scenes from his life that were the impetus for a psychoneurotic disease. So the client clears his psyche ( cm.; ). In psychoanalysis, it is a special technique of therapeutic influence, which consists in discharging, reacting to an affect that was previously forced into the subconscious and causes a neurotic conflict.
Dictionary of practical psychologist. - M.: AST, Harvest. S. Yu. Golovin. 1998 .
Catharsis Etymology.
Comes from the Greek. katharein - cleansing.
Author.The concept was introduced by Aristotle in "Poetics" to denote the cleansing effect of tragedy on the audience.
Category.The form of emotions.
Specificity.Emotional response. A strong emotional shock, which is caused not by real life events, but by their symbolic display, for example, in a work of art. In terms of emotional response of certain conflict situations this concept began to be used in psychoanalysis. It is believed that, due to this, the individual gets rid of the painful affect and neurotic symptoms.
Literature.Frank L. Die psychokatartische Behandlung neuroser Storungen. Leipzig: G. Thieme, 1927
Psychological Dictionary. THEM. Kondakov. 2000 .
CATHARSIS
(from Greek. catharsis- cleansing) - a term used in aesthetics, in art psychology,psychoanalysis.
in "Poetics" introduced the term "K." in his doctrine of tragedy to denote the mental discharge experienced by the viewer in the process of emotional shock, empathy.
L.WITH.Vygotsky in The Psychology of Art (1925) he put forward a hypothesis about the applicability of the concept of art to different types of art: “no other term used so far in psychology expresses with such completeness and clarity the central fact for the aesthetic reaction that painful and unpleasant affects are subjected to a certain discharge, destruction, transformation into opposites, and that the aesthetic reaction as such is essentially reduced to such a K., i.e., to a complex transformation of feelings ”; “in this transformation of affects, in their self-combustion, in an explosive reaction leading to the discharge of those emotions, which were immediately evoked, and is the K. of the aesthetic reaction.
In psychoanalytic theory, this term refers to the discharge (removal) of tension and anxiety due to the bringing to consciousness of repressed ideas, experiences, desires and memories. Hence the name "cathartic method" Breuer-Freud, which was a preliminary step to psychoanalysis (B. M.)
Big psychological dictionary. - M.: Prime-EVROZNAK. Ed. B.G. Meshcheryakova, acad. V.P. Zinchenko. 2003 .
Catharsis
CATHARSIS (With. 294)
Greek word catharsis for more than a hundred years it has been in the vocabulary of psychologists, moreover, it has already become a kind of cult symbol, the meaning of which seems clear only to the initiated. In fact, it practically does not occur in everyday speech, but psychologists use it whenever it comes to strong experiences, which, according to many, ennoble a person. It is this kind of experience that is deliberately cultivated by various areas of practical psychology with the aim of personal improvement.
Several interpretations can be found in various sources. this concept, which has been used since ancient times in philosophy, in particular in aesthetics, and more recently in psychology, mainly in psychoanalysis. A generalized definition drawn from these sources could sound like this: catharsis is an emotional shock that has a cleansing, enlightening effect. The authorship of this concept is attributed to Aristotle, its introduction into psychology is considered to be the merit of 3. Freud. These provisions, while not unfounded in principle, require, however, some clarifications.
Sometimes it seems that the priority of Aristotle in some cases is explained by a rather simple reason: unlike the writings of many ancient thinkers, most of the works of this scientist, favored by the then authorities, were carefully preserved and survived to this day. However, not all have been preserved - the content of some of Aristotle's works is known to us only in the presentation of later translators and interpreters. This also applies to the second part of the treatise "Poetics", where the Greek philosopher used the concept of catharsis. In fairness, it should be said that this phenomenon itself was described much earlier, although the surviving references to this are scattered and fragmentary.
Presumably the word catharsis goes back to Semitic gtr- cult incense; originally the term was associated with the religious concept of cult purity - purificatory rituals leading to catharsis usually opened the cult ceremony.
This meaning was taken Greek philosophy. In pre-Platonic philosophy, the idea of catharsis is characteristic primarily of Pythagoras and his school. Since, according to the Pythagorean doctrine, only a pure soul capable of gaining knowledge, there were numerous prescriptions and requirements for the purpose of purifying and enlightening the soul, among which was the famous requirement of a long silence for beginners. The Pythagoreans also recommended music for the purification of the soul - this can be seen as the origins of modern music therapy. There is no doubt that appropriate, specially selected pieces of music can cause strong feelings when a weary soul is washed with cleansing tears (but it is also obvious that other works - like the "masterpieces" of TATU or "Leningrad" - are fraught with the opposite effect).
Plato in the dialogue "Phaedo" speaks of a philosophical catharsis, which opens up a new dimension of reality to the philosophizer. Philosophy must comprehend the truly existing, for which it is necessary to consider things only through the soul. Forces prevent it sensory knowledge and deviating from spiritual knowledge body needs. Therefore, the soul should strive to separate from the body, as from fetters, and thereby achieve enlightenment.
Aristotle, like the Pythagoreans, also noted the educational and purifying value of music, thanks to which people are relieved and cleansed of their affects, while experiencing "harmless joy." Aristotle's famous definition of tragedy as purification from affects caused the appearance of an extensive literature on how catharsis should be understood here, what content Aristotle put into this concept and what he meant by purification. Various theories have been put forward, according to which tragedy cleanses of vices (G.E. Lessing), calms the affects of compassion and fear thanks to the laws of morality (E. Zeller), brings pacifying completeness through the harmonious reconciliation of passions (J.W. Goethe). Negative judgments were also expressed - for example, Zh.Zh. Rousseau condemned theatrical art, reproaching catharsis for being only “an empty fleeting feeling that disappears immediately. Following the illusion that gave birth to it, this is the remnant of natural feeling, immediately ruined by passions, fruitless pity, which is satisfied with a few tears, but did not move anyone to the slightest manifestation of philanthropy.
especially lively discussions the problem of spiritual cleansing emerged in the 19th century, which certainly anticipated the corresponding provisions of the theory of 3. Freud. Historians of psychoanalysis, characterizing the spiritual atmosphere of the late 20th century, write about “genuine insanity associated with the general interest in the problem of catharsis. This topic has become, perhaps, the most popular subject of discussion both among scientists and in refined and sophisticated Viennese salons. By 1890, only German more than 140 different publications on the problem of catharsis have been published. One of them belonged to Jakob Bernays, who was the uncle of Martha Bernays, the fiancée of Dr. Freud. In it, the author, analyzing the views of Aristotle, argued that when perceiving a tragic performance, the viewer awakens and intensifies the feelings associated with the affects of compassion and fear, as a result of which the tragedy has a strong effect on him, contributing to the elimination of the corresponding affects, bringing pleasure and relief. There are sufficient grounds for believing that Freud had the opportunity to get acquainted with this work and was influenced by the ideas contained in it. The same, in all likelihood, can be said about Freud's senior comrade and colleague I. Breuer, who owns the priority of introducing the principles of purification into psychotherapeutic practice.
In the history of psychoanalysis, the so-called case of Anna O. is considered a classic - the first example of the use of the "cathartic method of Breuer-Freud." This case is described in the joint work of Breuer and Freud "Studies in Hysteria" (1895). Under the pseudonym of Anna O., it featured a certain Bertha Pappenheim, Breuer's patient, whom Freud never personally met, although his bride knew her. The unfortunate Anna-Bertha suffered from a whole bunch of hysterical disorders, which first appeared when she was caring for her dying father. Breuer treated her with hypnosis. He found that, under hypnosis, the patient could recall those experiences that may have been the cause of the painful symptoms. The subsequent discussion of her experiences seemed to improve her condition. Each time after such discussions, the patient reported an improvement in well-being. Breuer and Freud, who discussed the course of treatment in detail, came to the conclusion that liberation from traumatic experiences reduces or completely eliminates painful symptoms.
For more than a hundred years, psychoanalysts have lauded this case as a brilliant example of the embodiment of the principles of psychoanalysis. To be fair, it must be admitted that this case in itself is far from indisputable. Immediately after Breuer's treatment, his patient, whom he refused for personal reasons, was placed in a psychiatric clinic and subsequently returned there more than once. mental health she never got it. On the contrary, her hysteria escalated in the form of another painful symptom - feminism, which she was obsessed with until the end of her restless life.
However, this unfortunate fact did not prevent the formation of the cathartic method of treatment. It was based on the following assumptions: painful symptoms are symbols of memories of traumatic experiences of the past; the disease occurs because the normal discharge of affects has been blocked and the infringed affects have had to go in another direction; becoming unconscious, these affects darken the spiritual life of a person, serve as a source of its excitation and lead to a neurotic illness. With the help of hypnosis, a chain of pathogenic memories is restored in the patient's memory, a traumatic situation is reproduced, previously suppressed affects are manifested with unusual strength, there is a reaction, and the neurotic symptoms disappear.
Using this method, Freud eventually abandoned hypnosis, which became, in his words, "unpleasant as a capricious and, so to speak, mystical means." Freud made cathartic treatment independent of hypnotic suggestion, set the task not in a hypnotic, but in a waking state, to find out from the patient what he was not aware of. Subsequently, as a technique, the method was supplemented by free associations. This innovation actually opened the way to the emergence of psychoanalysis proper.
Nowadays, regardless of the extent to which psychologists share Freud's postulates, many of them actively use the mechanisms of cathartic response in their practice. The goal of many psychotherapeutic procedures is to release unreacted emotions in the absence of negative consequences that took place in reality. Catharsis is successful when the anxiety associated with re-establishing contact with the situation is suppressed by other positive emotions in the psychotherapeutic setting.
To put it simply, in a number of cases it is necessary for a person to speak out, lose, one way or another, relive traumatic, painful experiences in a calm, safe environment in order to free themselves from their burden. By by and large, this is one of the most important tasks of psychology, if we understand it as a “helping profession”. Many techniques have been developed to achieve this goal, but their general principle is cathartic enlightenment.
Popular psychological encyclopedia. - M.: Eksmo. S.S. Stepanov. 2005 .
Catharsis
Reacting to previously repressed feelings that are the cause of the neurotic conflict. The term is commonly used in psychodynamic therapy, which believes that underlying problems cannot be resolved unless the emotions associated with them are released.
Psychology. AND I. Dictionary-reference book / Per. from English. K. S. Tkachenko. - M.: FAIR-PRESS. Mike Cordwell. 2000 .
Synonyms:See what "catharsis" is in other dictionaries:
CATHARSIS- (from the Greek katharsis purification) a category of aesthetics that reveals one of the essential moments of the aesthetic, namely the highest spiritually emotional result of aesthetic experience, aesthetic perception, the aesthetic impact of art on a person ... Philosophical Encyclopedia
Catharsis- Catharsis ♦ Catharsis Translated from Greek, catharsis means cleansing, liberation by removing everything that interferes or pollutes. Thus, according to Aristotle, tragedy is a catharsis of passions; according to Moliere, comedy is a catharsis of our weaknesses, ... ... Philosophical Dictionary of Sponville
Catharsis is a concept introduced into psychology and psychoanalysis from the time of the ancient era, meaning exaltation, healing of the soul and body, purification. It is a strong emotional shock caused not by real life events, but by their reflection in art - in a picture, in a film, in music.
Such an experience proceeds for a long time and negatively, but at its most acute point it turns into a positive experience. A seething of emotions that helps transform dark, negative, and painful experiences into light, uplifting, and noble ones.
The concept was developed back in ancient Greek philosophy, then this word meant cleansing, mostly spiritual, from guilt. The most famous definition, which has come down to us from ancient times, was formed by Aristotle and means drama (tragedy) based on feelings of compassion and fear and purification from these feelings - catharsis.
Having figured out what catharsis means, you need to find out where this concept came from and what it meant in antiquity.
Catharsis in philosophy is the process and effect of facilitating, ennobling the human soul and purifying it, under the influence of several factors. The use of this term began in the culture of ancient Greece, where certain components of religious Greek holidays are characterized by this concept. Catharsis was endowed with healing, healing properties for the soul and body, freeing the body from "foulness", and the soul from dark energy.
Ancient Greek philosophy perceived the concept of catharsis in the most different definitions, they were used in philosophy, physiology, magic, medicine and mysticism. Later, these concepts were transferred from medicine and religion to the realm of art. And here the definitions of the state of catharsis become the main ones, given ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle.
Catharsis according to Aristotle is the cleansing of the human soul from affects, thanks to the educational and cleansing properties of music and the tragedy being viewed. Aristotle believed that every person, experiencing a state of passion, becomes weaker, and with the help of art he will receive relaxation and temporary purification of his soul. While watching a tragedy, a person experiences excitement, a state of fear and empathy, while his emotions lead to the discharge of affects and the creation of a relief effect. According to Aristotle, not only people are endowed with a soul, but also animals and plants. But only a person can experience a state of catharsis - to cleanse the soul of the accumulated "filth" - black energy, negative information and painful affects.
Just as the ancient Greek healers treated the sick by performing enthusiastic music that increased the state of affect and developed the state of catharsis, so Aristotle saw in the perception of tragedy the connection of spiritual purification with the healing of the body.
Definition of a concept in psychology
catharsis in modern psychology- this is purification with the help of one's own imagination and the creation of illusions. Psychoanalysis defines the state of catharsis as the pleasure a person receives from the emotions that he experiences himself, while he perceives other people's emotions. Psychotherapy defines the state of catharsis as a release from excessive emotional stress.
Negative emotions deeply rooted in human subconscious, must certainly find a way out, otherwise they will cause oppression and the manifestation of various psychosomatic symptoms that are not even realized by a person. Psychoanalysts are of the opinion that in order to cure an illness, one must go through an emotional shock.
There are two types of catharsis:
- Household - to get rid of anger, hatred, resentment, a person needs emotional release. He must cry, suffer, and then there is a desire to forgive the offender and let go of anger from his soul.
- High - occurs through the perception of a work of art - a book, film, painting, music. For example, spiritual purification occurs through empathy with the heroes of the tragedy, under the impression of their suffering and difficult life situations.
Since catharsis is an internal cleansing that occurs after experiencing the strongest emotions and upheavals, in psychology and psychotherapy this concept was brought out as a special method aimed at identifying and getting rid of impulses that are not recognized by a person. This is the phase of treatment during which the mentally ill patient remembers and relives the events and upheavals that led to the mental illness. Thus the patient purifies his psyche.
In psychoanalysis, catharsis is a method of therapeutic action on the patient, with the help of which the affect previously deposited in the subconscious is experienced again and clears from mental conflict. In the course of such treatment, a person revives the strongest emotions and experiences in his memory, releases the restrained affects and comes to recovery.
To explain in more detail what catharsis is and its definition in psychoanalysis, we need to understand the concept of affect. affect is a word Greek origin, which means strong emotional excitement, passion. Such a reaction occurs in a person in critical circumstances, when he is deprived of time to think about the situation and performs stereotypical actions - he shows aggression, runs or just freezes. This reaction is strong, explosive, but short-lived.
Catharsis is the cleansing of the subconscious from negative affects, the process of directing them into a different, positive direction during treatment. For release from negative energy during psychoanalytic treatment, a person again and again has to experience stressful situation, sometimes this state is very painful for the psyche, since emotions have long been in the depths of the subconscious. But only this method of psychotherapy is similar to the ascent to the highest point of spiritual healing through painful, but necessary experiences and memories.
According to Freud
During the treatment of patients with hypnosis, Z. Freud connected the manifestation of catharsis in psychotherapy with the manifestation of hysteria. He was of the opinion that the symptoms of hysteria are formed in a person due to the direction of negative energy to the level of the unconscious.
Freud used hypnosis to induce a state of catharsis in patients, to heal from hysteria. In a state of trance, the scientist "pulled out" depressing memories to the surface of the patient's consciousness, creating an emotional charge, freeing the subconscious from affect and causing such a state. But later he became convinced that he did not achieve a stable effect from hypnosis treatment - some patients were difficult to introduce into hypnosis, and some returned with initial problems.
The path to self-improvement
The concept can be perceived as an impulse to the development of one's own personality and self-improvement, if we talk about it, as a flurry of violent emotions experienced when a person comes into contact with beauty - culture and art.
Perceiving and passing through himself the events shown in the film, theatrical performance or depicted in the picture, a person acquires new experience. He empathizes with feelings, problems and life situations other people, doing it disinterestedly and in solidarity. Catharsis in such a situation becomes the culmination point of these experiences, a person cleanses the soul of negativity, fears and resentment.
Such emotions have a cleansing effect, pushing new boundaries in front of the individual, he is ready to receive new knowledge, emotions and feelings. A person becomes wiser, freer and more receptive to the outside world - internal growth is inevitable.
Any knowledge and learning leads to self-education, to the conscious construction of one's own personality through the comprehension and perception of universal human culture. Perceiving cultural values emotionally, being able to conduct a dialogue with them, a person learns and purifies his own soul, changing and improving his mind - this is how the structure of the personality changes.
Summing up, we can say that the concept is ambiguous and does not have a clear and unique meaning. Its synonyms are cleansing, relief, storm, flurry, which characterize catharsis as healing through high feelings and emotions.
The concept that philosophers put into the state of purification has changed. After all, the ancient Greek tragedies, which have unique property- cause a person to have a state of purification of the soul, are very different from contemporary films And musical works. Modern products of culture rarely evoke high feelings and violent emotions. Therefore, in order to purify and develop your own soul, you should try to watch kind, emotional films, get closer to art and painting in order to displace negative energy, which is so much in modern life.
