abreact
v. C1 Advanced abre·act
v. to express strong feelings or memories that you have been keeping hidden. It is often used when someone is trying to deal with a difficult past.
v. to express or release repressed emotions or memories, typically through a sudden and intense outburst. Often used in clinical contexts to describe the process of emotional catharsis.
The patient began to abreact after hearing the old song.
During the therapy session, the client started to abreact when the therapist mentioned his childhood home.
The film's director uses a series of flashbacks to allow the protagonist to abreact the trauma of the war, providing a cathartic release for the audience.
Partial calque of German abreagieren, from ab (“away from, off, down from”) + reagieren (“to react”).