Question

While they are discussing Bernie’s recently deceased father, Bernie’s psychodynamically oriented therapist encourages Bernie to compose a letter to his father, telling him everything he had wanted to tell him, but had failed to tell him, while he was alive. Bernie comes back the next week and tells his therapist that although writing the letter was an exhausting and very emotional exercise, he now feels much calmer than he did before. What term would Freud use to describe Bernie’s experience?

Answer 1

Catharsis

Step-by-step explanation:

Catharsis: The term catharsis is a widely used concept of the psychoanalytic theory that defines that the emotions related to traumatic or stressful events come to the surface level. Originally, the term catharsis has been introduced in the Greek and refer purging, however, catharsis is linked with the elimination or removal of the negative effects, emotions, & behaviors related to the unacknowledged trauma.

According to Sigmund Freud, the term catharsis refers to the process of emitting aggression to get rid of negative emotions. Freud was the first person to influence the use of catharsis in psychological therapy.