Psychoanalysis as therapeutic crisis induction. Affect and emotion as a prerequisite of radical change.

Far beyond psychoanalysis and the 20th century there is a very long tradition of the idea that under normal circumstances our convictions, values, attitudes and behaviour patterns are a more or less consistent system, not to be radically changed, unless a shaking-up happens, which reduces confidence into this value system. Only then would an intensive search for new and better possibilities of adaption to reality occur. In this paper, four theses on the problem of psychoanalytic crisis induction will first be presented. Thereafter, the phase of crisis induction within psychoanalytic therapy will be described in terms of Janzarik's concept of structural-dynamic coherence. Finally, a comparison between different forms of crisis induction such as psychoanalysis, group dynamics and trauma shall stress the ethical aspects of the matter.