psychoanalysis

n. 1. A form of psychotherapy developed by and based on the theories of Sigmund Freud in which the patient is required to say whatever comes to mind without hesitation or censure and gradually transfers feelings associated with these free associations onto the therapist. The therapist analyzes these remarks and overcomes resistance to the interpretations of the client by using the energies of the transference, which ultimately help the patient remake emotional decisions which have kept him or her functioning as if the present were a repetition of the past. 2. More generally, the theories of Sigmund Freud and his followers.