ABSTRACT
What constitutes psychoanalysis, and how does it work? It is rather difficult to say what psychoanalysis is. It is much easier to say what psychoanalysis is not. Indeed, psychoanalysis works quite well when applied to another discourse, but it itself is not a discourse. It is not a philosophical system and does not have its own set of values or beliefs, so it is also not a vision of the world (Weltanschauung). It is not just a supportive therapy, although it can also be. Finally, it cannot be reduced to a set of knowledge and therapeutic techniques (and evidently Freud dedicated only a minimal number of essays to it). Then, psychoanalysis has several features that distinguish it from other medical or philosophical practices.
