Psychoanalysis was developed by Sigmund Freud as a practice aimed at treating suffering caused by symptoms—ranging from inhibition to anxiety—through speech. Its fundamental premise is that human suffering carries within it a form of knowledge, that of the unconscious, that remains unique to each individual. Recurring experiences, anxieties, dreams, or words that slip out contrary to what we would like to say about ourselves may point to something that needs to be interpreted. The distinctive nature of this practice creates a space in which one can hear one’s own words differently —including what does not immediately find its place in what is said, but which returns, repeats itself, or reveals itself in the form of a symptom. It thus becomes the only place where one can address the question of desire and the unconscious. In this sense, psychoanalysis differs from psychotherapy and stands apart from all psychology: in this discourse, where something other than what the subject intends to say may emerge, the aim is not to apply pre-existing knowledge to the individual’s experience.

Beginning psychoanalysis requires neither prior preparation nor knowledge of its theory. What it may become for each individual is determined during the preliminary sessions, which may lead to the start of psychoanalysis. Sessions with a psychoanalyst do not preclude other forms of treatment.