abreaction

American  

[ab-ree-ak-shuhn] / ˌæb riˈæk ʃən /

noun

Psychoanalysis.

1. release of emotional tension achieved through recalling a repressed traumatic experience.

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abreaction British  

/ ˌæbrɪˈækʃən /

noun

1. psychoanal the release and expression of emotional tension associated with repressed ideas by bringing those ideas into consciousness

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Other Word Forms

• abreactive adjective

Etymology

Origin of abreaction

1910–15; ab- + reaction, on the model of German Abreagierung

Example Sentences

He went on to argue, almost uncannily, that our "gigantic abreaction" was likely to give them a major victory.

From Salon • Sep. 11, 2021

In these poems written during her last months, she dipped her pen in old wounds and secret bile and scribbled a volume of violent verse that constitutes a -major contribution to the poetry of abreaction.

From Time Magazine Archive

In these poems written during her last months, she dipped her pen in old wounds and secret bile and scribbled a volume of violent verse that constitutes a major contribution to the poetry of abreaction.

From Time Magazine Archive

This seems to after-shadow the modern views on intrapsychical conflict and abreaction.

From The Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Volume 10 by Various