The Psychology of Catharsis
A string of unfortunate events or a traumatic experience can cause a feeling of turmoil that continues to build. Eventually, you may reach a point where you feel like there’s so much emotion bottled up inside that you become overwhelmed. When this happens, understanding the psychology of catharsis can be helpful.
Below, we’ll explore catharsis and 16 ways you can make it work for you.
What Is Catharsis In Psychology?
He also developed the idea of defense mechanisms, such as denial, projection, repression, deflection psychology, etc. When used by modern psychologists, catharsis means discharging negative emotions to relieve intense anxiety, stress, anger, or fear.
In recent years, catharsis in psychology has been adapted to become more applicable to modern times and situations. Catharsis can serve as a positive outlet for people who are experiencing stress, anger, and strong emotions, and many people have relied on it to successfully release these feelings.
Psychological Catharsis Examples
There are many ways to discharge emotions or experience catharsis. The following examples are broad categories, each of which can include many ways to achieve emotional catharsis.
Music: Throughout history, music has been used to help people cope with their emotions. Music is often in itself an emotional or cathartic experience. When you feel sad and listen to a sad song, you may feel better, or at least more understood. Music can bring a sense of catharsis as it releases those sad feelings and clears the way for more positive emotions.
Psychodrama: Psychodrama is a type of therapy in which participants act out troubling events from their past. As the person in question becomes involved in the scene of their past hurt, they may relive the feelings they overlooked back then, finally experiencing them fully and letting them out in catharsis.
Art: Creating art can have a cathartic effect, too. Every art medium has the power to help both amateur and professional artists release emotions in catharsis. One person may spatter paint on a canvas, flinging away their anger as they do. Another might draw heavy black slashes with a charcoal pencil. Regardless of the medium, creating art can be a cathartic experience.
Primal Therapy: In primal therapy, the goal of catharsis is to release a person’s earliest negative childhood memories. The therapist may instruct the client to express feelings they’ve been hiding for years by directing their anger toward an imaginary parent or family member sitting in an empty chair.
Reliving Traumatic Events: It is often advisable to only relive traumatic events under the supervision and guidance of a licensed therapist. In therapy, you may be guided through a past traumatic event and reach catharsis when you’re able to talk about it without reacting as usual. As you’re confronted with the details of an environment where you once felt threatened, you may experience those feelings freely through catharsis, knowing that the threat is in the past.
Writing: Writing can be highly therapeutic. Many psychologists and mental health programs encourage journaling for this very reason. Whether you’re writing directly about your experiences in a journal or creating poetry to express your emotions, the release can be just as equally effective.
Reading Literature And Watching Films: Writing and acting can provide catharsis, but so can experiencing the results of those creative endeavors. When you read a well-written book, you may find that the author expresses a familiar feeling so clearly that it brings up feelings that you thought had long been buried. The catharsis can be the same with a well-acted movie.
Volunteering: Sometimes, when someone has a difficult experience, they deal with it by volunteering to help others. This also involves community activism, which can provide catharsis as well. Giving support to others can boost positive feelings in yourself.
Psychoanalysis: Sigmund Freud developed this psychoanalytic method, and much of his work centered on bringing about catharsis to promote psychological healing. Nowadays, psychoanalysts use catharsis, but often only as the first step in helping clients understand themselves so they can make healthier decisions.
Psychodynamic Therapy: A psychodynamic therapist typically encourages an individual to talk about past experiences and emotions. One of the goals of psychodynamic therapy is to go deeper than the person usually does in their everyday life so that they can experience catharsis with the root problems of their present difficulties.
Emotion-Focused Therapy: Emotion-focused therapy is often used to help individuals or couples reach catharsis and improve their relationships. It works by allowing clients to develop emotional intelligence. This can happen as clients re-experience past hurts, put them into perspective, and find catharsis in new ways to respond to them.
Rituals: Throughout human history, people have used rituals to cope with mental and emotional challenges. This kind of catharsis can happen individually, or it can happen in groups. There are different categories of rituals, including spiritual and religious rituals.
Humor: Humor can help people release their emotions, often in a raucous burst of laughter. To achieve this kind of catharsis, you can watch TV or a movie, listen to a comedian, or read humorous texts to get a good laugh. Sometimes, you may find that you cry when releasing your emotions via laughter, vice-versa. Both can be truly cathartic experiences.
Confession: Telling your life story with all of your secret thoughts, actions, and experiences can release emotions that you only vaguely knew were there. This may also be true in religious ceremonies, even though the main goal isn’t usually emotional release or catharsis.
Exercise: Although catharsis is an emotional release, it can bring about many other changes in the body as well. The cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal systems are all affected as pent-up emotions are released. Some people find that they can achieve catharsis by exercising or doing something physically demanding that promotes the same types of physical changes.
Making Noise: It can sometimes be productive to let emotions out by creating noise. You might play an instrument or even scream into a pillow. This can be a cathartic experience by allowing you to fully let go.
Seeking Help With Catharsis
Achieving catharsis on your own can be helpful, but sometimes it may be more useful to speak with a therapist. This can be especially true when you’re coping with a lot of anger. If you’ve been through trauma or ongoing abuse,* it may be more productive to talk to a therapist who can help you cope with your emotions safely and reach catharsis in a guided environment.
*If you are facing or witnessing abuse of any kind, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at any times. Call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text "START" to 88788. You can also use the online chat.
A therapist might also use catharsis as a therapeutic tool to help you cope with fear or a phobia. Once you’ve released your bottled-up emotions, you may develop new ways of dealing with the present.
Online Counseling With BetterHelp
If you feel hesitant to visit a therapist in their office, you might consider online therapy, which numerous studies have shown to be effective. With BetterHelp, therapy sessions can be conducted via video chats, phone calls, instant messaging, or any combination thereof. A therapist may be able to help you discover the source of your difficulties, which may prove to be a cathartic experience.
The Efficacy Of Online Counseling
Online counseling can be effective in improving a variety of mental health conditions. For example, one study found that people who used BetterHelp experienced a significant decrease in the severity of depression symptoms. Research also shows that online therapy can be effective for phobias, anxiety, substance use, and bipolar disorder.
Below are a couple of reviews of qualified therapists who have helped others find emotional release using a variety of cathartic methods.
Counselor Reviews
“Lori has been absolutely amazing to work with. In just a couple months she has helped me process, resolve and release some issues I had been holding onto and trying to let go of for a very long time. She listens with full presence and non-judgement, and responds with total understanding. I feel very safe in our sessions to speak my truth, and Lori also challenges me to see things in new ways I hadn’t previously considered. I am incredibly grateful to have found Lori, and I really value the time I get to spend with her. Lori really cares about the well-being of her clients, and she does a great job of helping her clients feel that care and support, which has really helped me to feel safe and grow :)”
“I have only been seeing Heather for a couple of weeks, but she has already been extremely helpful. She makes me feel like I am heard and that my feelings and experiences are valid. I would highly recommend her to anyone who needs to be listened to and receive competent and helpful feedback and guidance.”
Takeaway
FAQs
Is crying cathartic?
According to psychology theory and catharsis theory, crying is therapeutic. In psychology theory, crying is often related to a release of stored negative emotions, which is exactly the definition of catharsis. This is likely why most of us feel better after having a good cry.
Does catharsis work to reduce aggression?
According to catharsis theory, the release of emotions that happens can work to reduce aggression. In theory, the pent-up emotions themselves are said to be the cause of many negative behaviors — including aggression. It stands to reason in psychology theory that reduced emotion can lead to reduced aggression.
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