Updated Prospectus

Description
Psychoanalysis is a science, stemming from Freudian thought, concerning varying theories about the functioning of the mind. It involves an analytic patient [analysand] talking about their thoughts and feelings in a chair, often facing the opposite direction of the analyst. The analyst in turn, interprets the patients’ speech to explain the unconscious bases for the patient’s symptoms and behavioral problems. The belief is that, through the analyst and analysand relationship, unresolved emotional conflicts are unearthed and ultimately symptoms diminish.

Research Question
Why is psychoanalysis not widely practiced in the United States?

Initial Research
Psychology is the study of mental processes and behavior. That is, the varying processes and behaviors incorporated and having to do with the different activities involving the mind. Modern day psychology, specifically cognitive behavioral therapy, is a field of science greatly practiced in the United States. Approaching psychology from a historical perspective will enable a better understanding of the componential aspects of the science, as well as its development.

Some consider psychoanalysis a branch of psychology. It is, as defined by Kardiner (1941) “a practical psychology, which seeks to make intelligible the aberrant phenomena in the stream of human experience which often are coincident with suffering and ineffectuality” (p. 233). Differing from psychology, most individuals within the psychoanalytic academia find the science and its practice a social responsibility. Unfortunately, psychoanalysis isn’t widely practiced in the United States, but rather in areas such as Western Europe, Argentina, and Brazil.