psychoanalyze

/ˌsɑɪkoʊˈænlˌɑɪz/

Other forms: psychoanalyzed; psychoanalyzing; psychoanalyzes

To psychoanalyze is to use a particular kind of psychiatric therapy to treat mental illness or disorders. When doctors psychoanalyze patients, they encourage discussion of their feelings, childhood, and dreams.

If a therapist psychoanalyzes you, you'll probably sit in a chair or lie on a couch while you talk about your feelings. A doctor who practices this kind of therapy is called a psychoanalyst, and her goal may be to help you realize the unconscious conflicts that make it hard for you to feel happy. The first person to psychoanalyze a patient was the Austrian doctor Sigmund Freud, in the 1890s.

Definitions of psychoanalyze

1. verb

   subject to psychoanalytic treatment
   synonyms: analyse, analyze, psychoanalyse

   type of:

   care for, treat

   provide treatment for