psychoanalyst
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of psychoanalyst
Explanation
A psychoanalyst is a mental health professional who works with clients over a long period of time to get at the root causes of their emotional and mental problems. Ever since Sigmund Freud first developed his theories of psychoanalysis in the 1890s, its practitioners, known as psychoanalysts, have helped people explore the origins of their mental states. Unlike other kinds of therapists, psychoanalysts tend to focus on dreams and childhood memories and traumas, and they use techniques meant to tap into a client's subconscious. A psychoanalyst is often called an analyst for short.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Orna Guralnik, 62, is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice and is on the faculty of New York University.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 12, 2026
During the investigation into the My Lai atrocities, Hersh recalls, his wife, Elizabeth — a psychoanalyst to whom he’s been married for more than 60 years — helped keep him from breaking down.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2025
"These groups are the equivalent of the bistro counter – but with more people," said psychoanalyst Patrick Avrane, author of a book on attitudes to crime.
From BBC • Sep. 22, 2025
As I try to make sense of this sick yearning and poisoned nostalgia, I have been returning to the work of the highly influential social psychologist and psychoanalyst Erich Fromm.
From Salon • Apr. 9, 2024
A lot of people, especially this one psychoanalyst guy they have here, keeps asking me if I'm going apply myself when I go back to school next September.
From "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
