Definition of: psychoanalysis

(sī′kō·ə·nal′ə·sis) noun
1. The doctrine that mental life and all forms of behavior may be interpreted in terms of reciprocally acting forces largely governed by the dynamic interplay of conflicting drives and processes originating in the unconscious.
2. A system of psychotherapy originated and developed by Freud which seeks to alleviate mental and nervous disorders by the technical analysis of controlling factors persistently repressed in, and manifested through, the unconscious.
—psy′cho·an′a·lyt′ic (-an′ə·lit′ik) or ·i·cal adjective
—psy′cho·an′a·lyt′i·cal·ly adverb