Skip to main content

Sage Social Science Thesaurus

Search from vocabulary

Content language

Concept information

... > social science subjects > counseling and psychotherapy > psychotherapy > psychodynamic therapy > psychoanalysis > abreaction > catharsis
... > social science subjects > psychology > applied psychology > clinical psychology > psychotherapy > psychodynamic therapy > psychoanalysis > abreaction > catharsis
... > social science subjects > counseling and psychotherapy > counseling programs > substance abuse treatment > treatment theories, research, techniques, strategies, and effectiveness > psychotherapy > psychodynamic therapy > psychoanalysis > abreaction > catharsis

Preferred term

catharsis  

Definition

  • The idea originated with the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who believed that watching a tragedy performed purged the spectator of powerful emotions. It has since come to mean any release of strong emotion. [Source: The SAGE Dictionary of Sociology; Catharsis]

Broader concept

Belongs to group

URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/catharsis

Download this concept:

RDF/XML TURTLE JSON-LD