Psychoanalysis is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques that deal in part with the unconscious mind, and which together form a method of treatment for mental disorders. The discipline was established in the early 1890s by Sigmund Freud, whose work stemmed partly from the clinical work of Josef Breuer and others. Freud developed and refined the theory and practice of psychoanalysis until his death in 1939. In an encyclopedia article, he identified the cornerstones of psychoanalysis as "the assumption that there are unconscious mental processes, the recognition of the theory of repression and resistance, the appreciation of the importance of sexuality and of the Oedipus complex." Freud's colleagues Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav Jung developed offshoots of psychoanalysis which they called individual psychology (Adler) and analytical psychology (Jung), although Freud himself wrote a number of criticisms of them and emphatically denied that they were forms of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis was later developed in different directions by neo-Freudian thinkers, such as Erich Fromm, Karen Horney, and Harry Stack Sullivan.
Psychotherapy is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome problems. Psychotherapy aims to improve an individual's well-being and mental health, to resolve or mitigate troublesome behaviors, beliefs, compulsions, thoughts, or emotions, and to improve relationships and social skills. Numerous types of psychotherapy have been designed either for individual adults, families, or children and adolescents. Certain types of psychotherapy are considered evidence-based for treating some diagnosed mental disorders; other types have been criticized as pseudoscience.
Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development. Central to its practice are psychological assessment, clinical formulation, and psychotherapy, although clinical psychologists also engage in research, teaching, consultation, forensic testimony, and program development and administration. In many countries, clinical psychology is a regulated mental health profession.
Stanley Greenspan was a clinical professor of Psychiatry, Behavioral Science, and Pediatrics at George Washington University Medical School and a practicing child psychiatrist. He was best known for developing the influential floortime approach for treating children with autistic spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities.
The Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM) is a diagnostic handbook similar to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The PDM was published on May 28, 2006.
Vamık D. Volkan, M.D., DFLAPA, FACPsa, is a Turkish Cypriot born American psychiatrist, internationally known for his 40 years work bringing together conflictual groups for dialogue and mutual understanding. Among his many other honours, he is the president emeritus of International Dialogue Initiative (IDI).
Nicla Vassallo, is an Italian analytic philosopher with research and teaching interests in epistemology, philosophy of knowledge, theoretical philosophy, as well as gender studies and feminist epistemology. She is currently a Full Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Genoa, a Research Associate of National Research Council, and on List of alumni of King's College London. She also is a poet and lives in Rome.
Alberto Oliverio is a biologist and psycho-biologist. He is currently professor of Psychobiology at the Sapienza University of Rome. He has been one of the main assistants of Nobel prize winner Daniel Bovet.
Giacomo Debenedetti was an Italian writer, essayist and literary critic. He was one of the greatest interpreters of literary criticism in Italy in the 20th century, one of the first to embrace the lessons of psychoanalysis and the human sciences in general, and among the first to grasp the full extent of Marcel Proust's genius.
Jack Drescher is an American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst known for his work on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Glen Owens Gabbard is an American psychiatrist known for authoring professional teaching texts for the field. He is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and is also training and supervising analyst at the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies in Houston.
Franco Fornari was an Italian psychiatrist, who was influenced by Melanie Klein and Wilfred Bion. He was a professor at the University of Milan and the University of Trento. From 1973 to 1978 he served as president of the Società Psicoanalitica Italiana.
Giulio Giorello was an Italian philosopher, mathematician, and epistemologist.
Giovanni Reale was an Italian historian of philosophy.
The American Mental Health Foundation (AMHF) is a non-profit organization(NGO) dedicated to the welfare of individuals with emotional problems and advancing mental-health research. AMHF is established to organize educational seminars and disseminate its knowledge.
Maria Luisa Gabriella Epifani, better known as Muzi Epifani, was an Italian writer and poet.
Sidney J. Blatt was a professor emeritus of psychiatry and psychology at Yale University's Department of psychiatry. Blatt was a psychoanalyst and clinical psychologist, empirical researcher and personality theoretician, who made enormous contributions to the understanding of personality development and psychopathology. His wide-ranging areas of scholarship and expertise included clinical assessment, psychoanalysis, cognitive schemas, mental representation, psychopathology, depression, schizophrenia, and the therapeutic process, as well as the history of art. During a long and productive academic career, Blatt published 16 books and nearly 250 articles and developed several extensively used assessment procedures. Blatt died on May 11, 2014, in Hamden, Conn. He was 85.
Nancy McWilliams, Ph.D., ABPP., is emerita visiting professor at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University. She has written on personality and psychotherapy.
Mauro Ceruti is an Italian philosopher.
Svetlana Uvarova is a Ukrainian psychoanalyst who is founder and rector of the International Institute of Depth Psychology, president of the Ukrainian Association of Psychoanalysis and the International Federation of Psychoanalysis, board member, certified training analyst and supervisor of the European Confederation of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapies, member of the World Council for Psychotherapy, editor-in-chief of the journal Psychoanalysis.Chronicle, a member of the editorial board of the European Journal of Psychoanalysis, editor-in-chief of its Russian language version.
