(psychoanalysis) purging of emotional tensions

Wiktionary Word definitions in Wiktionary
n. (context psychoanalysis English) The re-living of an experience with a view to purging its emotional dross. (First attested in the early 20 th century.) (R:SOED5: page=8)

The Collaborative International Dictionary Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
Abreaction \Ab`re*ac"tion\, n. [Pref. ab- + reaction, after G. Abreagirung.] (Psychotherapy) the purging of emotional tensions. See Catharsis , below. Syn: catharsis, katharsis

WordNet Word definitions in WordNet
n. (psychoanalysis) purging of emotional tensions [syn: catharsis , katharsis ]

Wikipedia Word definitions in Wikipedia
Abreaction is a psychoanalytical term for reliving an experience to purge it of its emotional excesses—a type of catharsis . Sometimes it is a method of becoming conscious of repressed traumatic events. Abreaction: concept introduced by Sigmund Freud in ...