Catharsis (from the Greek κάθαρσις katharsis meaning “purification” or “cleansing”).
The process of acute or recurrent negative experiences in the upper point turning it into a positive experience is called catharsis.
Emotional experiences that turn dark, difficult and painful feelings into the clean, bright and noble.
In modern psychotherapy the word catharsis in a general sense represent a therapeutic release of emotion or stress relief. In implosive therapy they purposefully trying to evoke strong emotions in order to achieve a cathartic stress relief.
In art catharsis is the purification and purgation of emotions—especially self-pity and fear—through art or to any extreme change in emotion that results in renewal and restoration.
Photos: Anais Pouliot for Exhibition magazine March 2012
