Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Signal Attenuation as a Rat Model of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Published on: January 9, 2015
Subversive redemption in psychoanalysis
1New York University, New York State Psychological Association and American Psychological Association, 330 West 58th Street, Suite 607, New York, NY, 10019, USA. frazerbear@erols.com
Abstract:
Subversive redemption--the sense of overturning the conventional order of things in order to recover lost parts of the self--is a virtually neglected topic in psychoanalysis. With free association, Freud empowered patients to harness unconventional thoughts and feelings. Patients who engage in subversive redemption frequently have a strong sense of agency prompting them to open up in new ways in lieu of "playing it safe." When patients begin to express certain forbidden ideas, the boundaries of analysis are broadened, freeing the analytic pair to become fully authentic. Psychoanalysis provides patients with an arena to renew themselves as they risk "killing off" their status quo positions to achieve the paradox of living more dangerously in the safety of the analytic surrounds. Patients then feel more confident about undertaking the process of subversive redemption in the wider world.
Related Concept Videos
Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory
Freud's concept of psychic determinism asserts that...
Freudian Psychology
Psychodynamic Therapy
Psychosexual Stages of Personality: Anal
Psychosexual Theory of Development
The Five Stages of Psychosexual Development
Freud's psychosexual...
Psychosexual Stages of Personality: Genital
