psychocatharsis


ca·thar·sis

(kă-thar'sis), 1. Synonym(s): purgation2. The release or discharge of emotional tension or anxiety by psychoanalytically guided emotional reliving of past, especially repressed, events. Synonym(s): psychocatharsis [G. katharsis, purification, fr. katharos, pure]

psychocatharsis

(si?ko-ka-thar'sis) [? + katharsis, purification] The bringing of traumatic experiences and their affective associations into consciousness by interview, hypnosis, or, formerly, drugs such as sodium amytal. See: catharsis