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prognosis

n.

1. in medicine and mental health science, a prediction of the course, duration, severity, and outcome of a condition, disease, or disorder. Prognosis may be given before any treatment is undertaken, so that the patient or client can weigh the benefits of different treatment options.

2. more generally, any prediction or forecast. —prognostic adj.

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Psychology term of the day

April 20th 2024

bioenergetics

bioenergetics

n. a form of alternative psychotherapy that combines work with the body and the mind in treating emotional problems. Bioenergetics proposes that body and mind are functionally identical: What happens in the mind reflects what is happening in the body, and vice versa. It uses exercises and postural changes in an attempt to relieve chronic muscular tensions and rigidity attributed to emotional stress and unresolved emotional conflicts. The approach was developed by U.S. physician Alexander Lowen (1910–2008) and is based on the work of Austrian psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957).