1. In psychoanalytic theory, the weakening or elimination of anxiety by reexperiencing, either through imagination or in reality, the original Explanation of Abreactions

2. Abreaction [‚ab·rē′ak·shən] (psychology) In psychoanalytic theory, the weakening or elimination of anxiety by reexperiencing, either through imagination or in reality, the original anxiety-provoking experience.

3. ‘The Analysand can break free of the pattern of repetition only through reproducing or reenacting the trauma as opposed to simply repeating it; the Analysand must reexperience the trauma and its concomitant anxiety.’