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Catharsis: the process of emotional release

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Catharsis is a Greek word that refers to purification and is used in psychology to explain the process of release of negative emotions. The term became popular in the psychotherapeutic field thanks to the psychoanalysis of Freud.

Catharsis and psychoanalytic theory

Catharsis is the emotional release that occurs with free association method. In psychoanalytic theory, this emotional release refers to the "purging" of conflicts. unconscious. The free association method or cathartic method was originally created by Breuer, A friend of Freud, but the latter developed it as part of his psychoanalytic theory.

Traumas and repressed drives

First, the free association method was part of the hypnotic therapy, in which the patient was subjected to the memory of the traumatic experiences of his past, in order to release those emotions or repressed drives. The evolution of psychoanalysis disassociated this method from hypnosis to make it part of psychoanalytic therapy.

In the beginnings of Psychoanalysis,

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Anna O, a hysterical Breuer patient, coined the cathartic method as "chimney cleaning" or "word cure."

To learn more about psychoanalytic theory, we recommend our article "Sigmund Freud: life and work of the famous psychoanalyst”.

Origin of the word catharsis

The word catharsis comes from the Greek term κάθαρσις (kátharsis) which means, "purification" or "purge". Aristotle used the word in his work The Poetics. According to him, catharsis occurred in the Greek tragedy due to the effect that it exerted on the spectators, since the show (tragedy) caused feelings of compassion and fear, and the spectators left the theater feeling clean, with a greater knowledge of the ways of men and of the gods.

So that, the term refers to a process of purification of our feelings and values. At the moment when we must reflect on life and human reflections beyond the here and now, we are able to value things in a different, renewed way. It is important, therefore, to understand that emotional catharsis is an ideal that can be achieved from self-reflection and from direct contact with our condition as thinking beings.

Catharsis theory: media and violence

In psychology, the use of the word catharsis is known for the concept used by psychoanalytic theory and its role in psychotherapy. But from social psychology the term has also been used in the "catharsis theory”.

The assimilation of certain ethical values

For several decades there has been a debate about the influence of the media on viewers and their relationship with the development of violence in childhood. No one denies the role of the media in the socialization of people, since participate in the internalization of values ​​and norms, and in the way in which individuals relate to the world around them.

But the media, many times distort reality and create an invented world, stories fictitious that try to influence our tastes, our interests and our opinions, something that is know how media reality. This reality constructed has a very powerful effect on the creation of the mental world of modern society.

Many theorists, like Albert banduraThey believe that the majority of consumers of the communication media absorb the social representations of the "mass media" without discrimination. This point of view, shared by other authors, is known as the mimetic theory. Against this background, catharsis becomes a complicated process, since there are many inputs that we internalize automatically. If we drag media content backpacks, the catharsis process can be compromised.

Another point of view: passive catharsis in front of the television

On the other hand, and against this vision, there is a current that defends (or at least excuses) violence in the media. For the defenders of this point of view, the diffusion of violence in the media works as a form of catharsis, something that is known as the “theory of catharsis”. For example, according to cathartic theory, violent scenes on television would constitute a way of releasing the aggressiveness that nests in the spectators.

Despite the fact that the debate has lasted several decades, and despite the interest of many theorists to demonstrate that the catharsis theory is true, research has not shown results to support this position.

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