Catharsis (from the Greek katharsis — cleansing) is the process of an acute or lasting negative experience, which at its highest point turns into a positive experience. Boiling of experiences, turning dark, difficult and painful experiences into pure, bright and noble experiences.
The traditional concept of «catharsis» was developed in the ancient Greek philosophy of art. In ancient Greek, the word katharsis most often meant «cleansing», especially from feelings of guilt. However, its most famous use in antiquity is found in Aristotle’s enigmatic definition of tragedy as an action (drama) «performing, through compassion and fear, the purification (catharsis) of such feelings.» Subsequently, catharsis became widespread in psychological science (Freud Z., Vygotsky L.S. and others). The term «catharsis» is used in aesthetics and in the psychology of art in relation to the reaction of the viewer, and in psychotherapy — in connection with the release of repressed affect or psychic energy.
Distinguish catharsis high and domestic. High catharsis can occur, for example, through the perception of works of art, for example under the impression of tragedy and empathy with their high and tragic life. Domestic catharsis is simpler: a person suffered, cried, and if after that the anger left and a desire to forgive arose, they also talk about domestic catharsis.
In psychoanalytic literature, the term «catharsis» first appears in Studies in Hysteria (Studien uber Hysterie, 1895) by Joseph Breuer and Sigmund Freud, although both the use of the term and the method itself were proposed by Breuer. He sought to eliminate the symptoms of hysteria by inducing hypnotic patients to relive or recall forgotten childhood events—often, but not always traumatic—and the feelings associated with them.
Freud suggested that in such cases the psychic or nervous energy that would lead to the primary affect was diverted to the formation of hysterical symptoms and that the memories of these events were repressed into the unconscious. When a previously repressed memory and the affect associated with it are introduced into consciousness in a hypnotic state, the latter is thereby discharged and the symptom disappears. This process of affective discharge has received another name — «reacting.» Freud considered the cathartic method to be the forerunner and lingering core of psychoanalysis.
In modern psychotherapy, outside the psychoanalytic tradition, the word catharsis generally refers to the therapeutic release of emotions or the release of tension, including that which may have been conscious or associated with conscious experiences. Implosive therapy deliberately tries to evoke strong emotions in order to achieve cathartic release of tension. Catharsis is a central concept in psychodrama and an important aspect of most models of brief psychotherapy and crisis intervention. Sometimes the same thing is called «talking out», «acting out» or «ventilating». It is important to remember that the rejection of aggression advocated by many experts is an ineffective method and rather a harmful recommendation.