Freud : The Unconscious, Dreams And The Psychosexual Stages

The relationship between dreaming and repression is complex and requires thorough understanding of Freud’s theory thus it is better to get to know some of the terms and concepts Freud raises in study of dreams. As all the information is gathered, it is believed that the wish as fulfilled is shown only in a state of repression during sleep.

Sigmund Freud was arguably one of the most influential psychologists in the investigation of personality, and his work can still, to some extent, be considered relevant today. His methods allowed for the first time the investigation of phenomena that were previously difficult to tackle, such as dreams and sexual desires. “Yes and No” is a justified reply to the question of whether Freud is relevant today in that his ideas on personality were the first to investigate the role of childhood trauma, and have been reflected in the work of many other psychologists since, either as a continuation of his work or as a reaction to it.

I wrote this paper to get a better understanding of Sigmund Freud’s method and theory of dream analysis. The purpose of the paper will be to show the principals of Freud’s dream related theory that focuses on the physiology, interpretation, and psychology of dreams and to explain concepts such as latent and manifest content of dreams, the part of unconscious process, and the nature of dreams role in the determination of dream content. I would like to explore Sigmund Freud’s explanations of psycho-analytic and psychological theory and method to reveal whether Freud’s continuous revising to sexually based conclusions are able to support his own arguments. One of his themes was the amount of activity that goes on in our brains without us even

There are many theories about why we dream, some say dreams have no meaning or purpose, others say dreams are required for emotional, physical and mental health. According to the activation- synthesis model of dreaming theory circuits in the brain become activated during the REM cycle, which causes areas in the limbic system involved in memories, emotions and sensations become activated (verywell.com/why-do-we-dream-top-dream-theories-2795931). Sigmund Freud’s theory on dreams suggested that dreams represented unconscious desires, thoughts and motivations (verywell.com/Freudian-theory-2795845). Though these thoughts are not consciously expressed, Freud suggested they make their way into awareness via dreams.

This reflective essay illustrates Freud’s theory of dream analysis. It will begin with a brief overview of Freudian dream theory and will go on to describe the various components of personality structure and the unconscious from a psychodynamic perspective. This essay will analyse one of my personal dreams using Freud’s dream analysis theory and conclude with a critical reflection on the application of his theory as it relates to my dream.

After a friend told me about some weird dreams he had been having I decided to research the meaning of dreams. I will focus on Sigmund Freud’s idea that understanding our dreams can help us to understand ourselves, and live a much happier and fulfilled life. Freud was known as “the father of psychoanalysis” and in 1899 he wrote his most famous work, The Interpretation of Dreams, and

Freud claimed that unconscious drives are often in conflict with one another and are the cause of mental disorders. Our mind uses several defence mechanisms; they are unconscious methods of preventing repressed wishes associated with some real or imagined threat from rising into consciousness, often by denying or distorting some aspect of reality. It enables us to reach compromise solutions to problems we are unable to resolve any other way. The main cornerstone of psychoanalysis is Repression, a defence mechanism where the emotions are repressed from consciousness into the

According to Ciccarelli and White many of today’s professionals no longer appreciate Freud’s dream theory (151). The theory proposed by Freud appears highly unscientific. The unconscious mind was important in Freud’s work and the Freudian theory emphasized that the unconscious mind governed behavior.

“Dreams are a series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.” This is the true definition of what dreams are according to Free Dictionary.com. Although many people are unaware of how dreams actually work there are two psychologists that have been able to pinpoint the true meaning of dreams. These two men are Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. There are many different perceptions on how people dream, what dreams mean, and why people dream.

Sigmund Freud’s On Dream was a very interesting read because it taught a lot about his views and ideas on how dreams work. Throughout the book, Freud is analysing a dream he has where a woman who was not his wife is having dinner with him. She tells him that he has pretty eyes and put her hand on his knee. Later on, she tries to feed him spinach. By the end, Freud has explained what he believes to be the meaning behind the dream. Freud believes that the dream meant that he wants to find love but not having to work to find it.

Although there were various methods of interpreting dreams in biblical times, one way that was used to interpret the impact of dreams on reality is through a message being delivered (often by a spirit/god), also known as religious symbolism. The reason it is known as religious symbolism is because the theory is most commonly used in religious circumstance, although there are many records from ancient times stating that dreams foresee future events through a message being given to a person in the person’s dream outside of religious purposes (Alles). These records include the Chester Beatty Papyrus from Egypt, the Atharvaveda from India, a Babylonian dream guide, and other ancient references. The messages delivered have different meanings but

Sigmund Freud created strong theories in science and medicine that are still studied today. Freud was a neurologist who proposed many distinctive theories in psychiatry, all based upon the method of psychoanalysis. Some of his key concepts include the ego/superego/id, free association, trauma/fantasy, dream interpretation, and jokes and the unconscious. “Freud remained a determinist throughout his life, believing that all vital phenomena, including psychological phenomena like thoughts, feelings and phantasies, are rigidly determined by the principle of cause and effect” (Storr, 1989, p. 2). Through the discussion of those central concepts, Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis becomes clear as to how he construed human character.

Known widely as the Father of modern psychology, there is not a scholar in the current history of psychology that has been so widely debated, criticised or had as much influence on our current ways of thinking and understanding layman’s psychology as Sigmund Freud. To put into context his vast influence, consider the term ‘Freudian Slip’ a phrase so innocuous yet extremely telling of the vast influence of Sigmund Freud on our everyday life. Freud represents a layman’s ideas of psychology, the image of a well dressed housewife smoking a cigarette reclining on a low leather chaise whilst spilling her darkest secrets to an elderly doctor who takes notes and nods his head occasionally. This is an image seen countless times in various different scenarios, the patients and props’ varying yet the influence remains the same.

The unconscious is not a concept, it is a rhetorical device." He wrote Stanley Fish in his article, "Withholding the Missing Portion". Fish 's article argues that Freud 's main concern in his writings is to influence the reader of the strength of his readings and the power of his theory through his clever use of rhetoric. In particular, Fish refers to the role of the unconscious in Freud 's theory, arguing that it can be freely used by Freud in such a way that it can appear to account for any data acquired in practice. This attitude reflects the commonly-held view amongst modern scientists that Freud 's theories are unscientific. In this essay, I aim to argue that while Fish makes a valid point about Freud 's use of the unconscious as a rhetorical device, to consider it as only a rhetorical device and to dismiss its importance as a scientific concept is not only unjustified, but also impractical in psychological theories of the mind. Freud 's theories, I argue, are no less scientific than other theories in science.

At the age of 40 in 1896, Sigmund Freud introduced the world to a new term- psychoanalysis (Gay 1). Psychoanalysis is a method of treating patients with different nervous problems by involving them in dialogues which provide the physician with insight into the individual’s psyche. These dialogues provided the basis for Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, which “attempts to explain personality, motivation, and psychological disorders by focusing on the influence of early childhood experiences, on unconscious motives and conflicts, and on the methods people use to cope with their sexual and aggressive urges” (Weiten 363). Part of this theory involves the structure of the mind. This is a concept that touches