This article was automatically translated from the original Turkish version.
Catharsis (Greek: Katharsis, purification, cleansing) is a process in psychology and psychotherapy in which an individual achieves relief and integration by expressing repressed emotional conflicts and traumatic experiences. This process holds critical importance for a person’s mental and spiritual health.
The concept of catharsis was first used by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, particularly in reference to the art of theater. Aristotelian Definition: In his work Poetics, Aristotle noted that spectators of a tragic play experience intense emotions such as fear and pity, and through this emotional engagement, they are purified and relieved. This is an emotional cleansing achieved through art. (Breuer & Freud, 1895)
Catharsis entered modern psychology through the work of Sigmund Freud and Josef Breuer, particularly in their studies on hysteria.
Freud and Breuer proposed that the source of hysterical symptoms—such as paralysis—lies in emotional energy generated during a traumatic event that has been repressed and locked in the unconscious. The goal of treatment is to express and release this energy verbally.
Through techniques such as free association or hypnosis, the individual is helped to bring repressed traumatic memories and the associated emotions into conscious awareness. This emotional discharge, or catharsis, contributes to the reduction of neurotic symptoms and aids the individual in regaining psychological wholeness.
Today, catharsis is applied in various forms not only within psychoanalytic theory but also across many modern therapeutic schools.
The aim is to provide psychological relief by allowing the individual to express accumulated pathogenic emotions—such as insecurity, anger, anxiety, and hatred—in a safe environment.
In individuals who struggle to express themselves and consistently repress their emotions, this accumulated emotional energy may eventually manifest as physical (somatic) or psychological symptoms—such as depression, anxiety, or panic attacks.
The therapeutic process helps the individual release these burdens by examining their prejudices and discussing repressed emotions. This facilitates the breaking of psychological defenses and lays the groundwork for the person’s spiritual transformation.
In the psychological counseling process, catharsis plays a vital role in helping the client release long-suppressed emotional burdens. Subjectively, the moment of catharsis is a profound turning point in which the client finally feels heard and experiences unconditional acceptance of their pain or anger by the therapist. This emotional release—whether through crying, anger, or intense expression—is not merely a form of relief but also the moment when the hidden chains that have held the person’s spiritual energy captive are broken. Through this experience, the client becomes aware that traumatic memories are no longer locked in the unconscious but have been transformed into a comprehensible narrative. This purification marks the first and most powerful step toward reconciliation with the past and the reconstruction of inner wholeness; because a feeling that is acknowledged and expressed ceases to be a feared enemy and becomes material that can be worked with.
Origin and Definition of the Concept of Catharsis
Psychoanalytic Approach and Catharsis
Mechanism (Cathartic Method)
The Therapeutic Process
The Role of Catharsis in Modern Psychotherapy
Objective
Expression Suppression and Its Consequences
Solution
Subjective Perspective
