system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why is psychoanalysis fairly important in philosophy? Why predominantly psychoanalysis than mainstream psychology? And why does psychoanalysis seem to be so closely associated with continental work specifically?

Philosophy touches on a lot of sciences, typically/often because they stemmed out of philosophical inquiry in the first place. It's less common, I think, for philosophy to draw so much on an outside field, compared to most other outside fields. (Obviously excepting things like the philosophy of science and mind, etc.)

Additionally, from an outsider's perspective one might have thought that, even if psychoanalysis was still useful, one might expect to see some mainstream psychology incorporated as well --  but I get the sense that at the very least, psychoanalysis is more important.

Finally, why is psychoanalysis so apparently heavily affiliated with continental work? I am interested in knowing both what traits might have made it so useful in that tradition, and also if there is any particular reason it did not catch on in analytic work.
gpt
There's extensive philosophical engagement with psychology.

But you're comparing apples and oranges, psychoanalysis isn't an alternative to mainstream psychology. Psychoanalysis is a tradition in psychotherapy, and while the popular mind tends to conflate psychology, psychiatry, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, etc., there are some fundamental distinctions here, and most psychologists have no involvement whatsoever with psychotherapy. The major alternatives to psychoanalysis are psychopharmacology, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and client-centered therapy. (And there is significant philosophical interaction with all of these.)