Definition

Noun: 1. The release or discharge of repressed emotional tension, often achieved by reliving the original traumatic experience that caused it. This term is used in psychoanalysis to describe a therapeutic process where a person consciously experiences and expresses previously suppressed emotions, leading to a reduction in psychological distress.

Usage

• The therapist guided the patient through an abreaction of the childhood trauma.
• Crying during the session was seen as a sign of a successful abreaction.
• The goal of the treatment was to achieve an abreaction of the pent-up fear.

Advanced Usage

• "to undergo abreaction": to experience the process of emotional release.
  • The patient was able to undergo abreaction and finally process the grief.
• "to bring about/cause an abreaction": to facilitate or trigger this emotional release.
  • The specific memory technique was used to bring about an abreaction.

Variants and Related Words

• Abreact (verb): To release (repressed emotion) through abreaction.
  • He was finally able to abreact the anger he had held for years.
• Catharsis (noun): A broader, more general term for the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions. is a specific type of catharsis within psychoanalytic theory.

Synonyms

• Catharsis
• Emotional release
• Purging (of emotions)
• Psychic discharge

Noun

1. (psychoanalysis) purging of emotional tensions