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CriticaLink | Freud: On Narcissism | Terms

retrogression

Retrogression refers to a return to an earlier stage of psychological development. Retrogression sometimes occurs in response to an external stimulus, especially trauma, which causes individuals to return to behaviors and emotional patterns sof a much younger age--extreme dependency on others, for example. Some psychotherapic approaches like hypnosis attempt to regress patients to these earlier phases in order to awaken the patient's memories of formative experiences.