Final answer:
Transference is the concept used by psychoanalysts to understand a client's relationships based on projections onto the therapist. Freud utilized this, along with dream analysis and free association, to dive into the unconscious mind. While some of his methods are criticized, transference remains important in therapy.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept that allows a psychoanalyst to gain insight into the client's relationships with significant others is c) Transference. In psychoanalysis, transference is the phenomenon where clients project feelings and attitudes from a parent or a significant person from their past onto the therapist. Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalytic theory, heavily utilized techniques like dream analysis, free association, and analysis of slips of the tongue to explore the unconscious. Transference is considered a critical tool for understanding the client's internal world and the relationship dynamics they construct based on past experiences.
Psychoanalysis was a dominant approach in clinical psychology for many years, and Freud believed that neuroses and other psychological disturbances were deeply rooted in the unconscious mind. Techniques such as dream analysis aim to decode the manifest content of dreams to access the latent content, or the hidden psychological meaning. While Freud's methods, including his emphasis on sexual development and childhood traumas, were later met with criticism for their lack of scientific rigor, the therapeutic use of transference remains an essential aspect of many psychotherapeutic approaches today.