Psychoanalysis is based on the observation that individuals are often unaware of the factors that determine their emotions and behavior. Because these factors are unconscious, the advice of friends and family, the reading of self-help books, or even the most determined efforts will often fail to provide enough relief.
Some people may have already achieved important satisfactions - with friends, in marriage, in work, or through special interests and hobbies - but nonetheless they are significantly impaired by long-standing symptoms: depression or anxiety, sexual incapacities, or physical symptoms without any demonstrable underlying physical cause. One person may be plagued by private rituals or compulsions or repetitive thoughts of which no one else is aware. Another may live a constricted life of isolation and loneliness, incapable of feeling close to anyone. Some people come to analysis because of repeated failures in work or in love, brought about not by chance but by self- destructive patterns of behavior. Others need analysis because the way they are - their character - substantially limits their choices and their pleasures. And still others seek analysis definitively to resolve psychological problems that were only temporarily or partially resolved by other approaches.
Whatever the problem - and each is different - that a person brings to the analyst, it can be properly understood only within the context of that person's strengths and life situation. It can be said that while psychoanalysis is for everybody, not everybody might be ready for psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is for everybody because it is a practice of speech, and not an academic exercise. No preparation is required; psychoanalysis can apply to anyone who is interested in learning about him/herself, regardless of the level of education, cultural background, IQ, profession, or age. In psychoanalysis, the client simply attempts to communicate as openly and freely as possible, saying whatever comes to mind. On the other hand, not everybody might be ready for an experience that requires such attitude of openness and humility. Some people find it hard to adjust themselves to follow the flow of unconscious ideas and associative chains; some people may prefer just a quick fix to their momentary problems. However, in psychoanalysis learning to watch where your thoughts and associations take you is a vital part of the process, there are no other shortcuts.One of the key goals of analysis is freedom, including the freedom of your mind to range freely in thought and feeling.
Psychoanalysis may requires to each person a different time, according to his/her sensitivity. This because psychoanalysis is not a teaching that comes from books, but a teaching from the unconscious: it is knowledge of the unconscious, and not just about the unconscious.
Psychoanalysis is a radically different attitude of listening what we tell ourselves. Thus, it does not require years of practice or study, and instead it should be effective in each session. So, psychoanalysis may be for you, if you are looking for something more than the common sense.
Psychoanalysis is very concrete, and not an abstract discourse, because it considers the specificity of each single case, and not a universal truth. Psychoanalysis may be for you, if you want to develop your singularity and follow your desire.
Psychoanalysis is not a philosophy or a vision of the world, nor is a teaching. Thus, cultural values are not an obstacle to psychoanalysis. Indeed, if there are values, they can never be a barrier. Psychoanalysis may be for you if you want to valorize your life and the things you do, and if you don’t just accept the standards as a matter of fact.