Final answer:
Psychoanalysis is the process of exploring the unconscious, pioneered by Sigmund Freud, which can involve dream analysis and free association to address suppressed impulses and desires.
Step-by-step explanation:
The adult developmental process in which aspects of the unconscious are explored is known as psychoanalysis. This method was popularized by Sigmund Freud and involves techniques such as dream analysis, free association, and the interpretation of slips of the tongue to gain insight into the unconscious mind. Freud believed that neuroses and hysterias were often the result of suppressed unconscious impulses and desires, which could be brought to consciousness and addressed through psychoanalysis. Furthermore, Freud's theory of psychosexual development posits that personality is largely shaped during early childhood, with each stage centered around different erogenous zones. If an individual does not receive proper nurturing during a stage, they may develop fixations that carry into adulthood.