Essay on Freud's Dream Analysis. a Case Study

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.

By interpreting a person’s dreams, psychologists can gain insight into the emotions he or she may be feeling. Sigmund Freud was one of the first researchers to publish a book on his knowledge of dreams. Freud believed that dreams are the “royal road to the unconscious” and contain a person’s unconscious desires (“Sigmund Freud”). Nowadays, dreams are interpreted not by their story, but by their emotional color. During sleep, the brain replays emotional experiences from throughout day. Often, dreams offer alternative solutions to these experiences. Many psychologists believe that taking actions in a dream can help a person feel better about a situation. Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung believes that dreaming is meant to help heal one’s mind by presenting the sleeper with a problem and then offering a way to solve it (“Greater Good”). If a person is feeling guilty, he or she may dream that the situation he or she is to blame for is actually the wrongdoing of someone else. In researcher William G. Domhof’s studies, he concludes that:

The point of view of which Freud interprets and examines the manifest of dreams content to obtain their latent meaning is of a professional psychologist and clinical observer who looked for a way to explain how our minds work and how the individual psychology functions. He based his work on clinical experiences and clinical neurosis of the matter of his own interpretations to be able to confirm his theories as a proven fact. The result Freud gets from the patients he observes and interpretation of their dreams are stereotyped to the complete human condition.

Both Freud and Jung provided important and interesting theories on dreams; encompassing their functions, their roots, and their meanings. Freud looked at dreams as a result of repressed memories, particularly repressed sexual memories from our childhood. Jung however, believed that dreams delved beyond sexual repression during younger years, to other problems, be it trauma, anxiety etc. Jung also believed dreams changed predominately through middle adult years, while Freud believed the opposite. There is little empirical evidence to reinforce either Freud or Jung’s theories, however, their contributions to the study of dreams in psychology cannot be lessened or denied.

He believed by examining dreams he can understand how the unconscious mind works and what it is trying to hide from conscious awareness. Freud broke down dreams into two different types, the manifest content of the dream and the latent content. The manifest content of the dream contains all the images, events, and thoughts contained in the dream, this is fundamentally what the dreamer remembers upon waking. The latent content is all the hidden and symbolic meanings within the dream. Freud believed that dreams were essentially a form of wish fulfillment, by taking those unconscious thoughts and desires and making them into less unacceptable behavior in society

Sigmund Freud, the father and creator of psychoanalysis, developed a therapeutic technique called “free association.” This technique encourages patients to use anything that comes into mind while the session is in progress, and to not withhold any thoughts. This technique is designed to assist patients in understanding what he/she is both thinking and feeling, without receiving any judgment. The assumption is that people experience conflicts between

Freud, Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams. Dover Thrift Editions. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 2015.

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

This dream serves now as a great way of coping with my past. At the time I was vulnerable and had no control of the situation. I would constantly watch the house burn down in the dreams to try to burn away the place the memory occurred, burn away the man symbolically, and burn the incident from my mind. The lesson this teaches me today is one of forgiveness and to face challenges head on as an adult.

Have you ever had a dream that you had no idea what it meant? In the essay Excerpts from “On Dream” Freud discusses dream symbolism. He states that the dream thought we first come across, we proceed without analysis we often think those dreams are unusual. He goes on by saying that our dreams are employed by our thoughts. “The content of dreams, however, does not consist entirely of situations, but also includes disconnected fragments of visual images, speeches and even bits of unmodified thoughts.” This quote explains why I dream about that scary little girl from the horror movie commercial. We dream what we see throughout our day. Dreams seem to be composed of more than one experience or impression. “Wishful fantasies which are present

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.

The second type of dream that Freud discusses, leaves the dreamer asking, “How did I get hold of such an idea?” For example, I had a dream a few months ago, that I can remember in parts, and I can only remember it because it left me scared. I had a dream that night, that my parents were going on vacation but I wasn’t going with them, I was with my brother at home and I had felt sick all of a sudden. Next thing I knew I was vomiting bugs. This dream had to be the most disgusting dream that I have ever had, not only due to the events that were happening in the dream, but the feeling that it left me while I was dreaming. The sensation that it was real and this was actually happening to me. When I woke up that morning, I tried to figure out where I could have created such an image in my head and I could not find an answer.

Over the centuries people have attempted to discover the meaning of dreams. Early civilizations thought they were real physical worlds that you could enter from a dream state. During these times dreams were felt to be a way to connect with a higher power, in fact some were convinced dreams were a way to prophecies events. However it wasn't until the late nineteenth century that Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung introduced what are still the most widely known theories of dreams. In current studies the use of technology has advanced our understanding of the dream state: brain activity, neuroscience, effective medications and lucid dreaming. This paper will examine different theories of the science, interpretation and purpose of our dreams.

In his book, Modern Man In Search Of A Soul, C.G. Jung gives a layperson insight into his ideas on dream analysis. Jung's primary objective in this book is to educate the reader as to what a psychoanalyst does when analyzing a patient's dreams. The principal message in the section of the book centered on dream analysis is that dreams should never stand alone. Dreams are meaningless in a vacuum, but on the other hand when put against a strict set of rules, they are oftentimes misunderstood. The unconscious is a fluid entity and cannot be handled either in isolation or with a static set of guidelines. Dreams are reflections of the unconscious and can represent many different things inside of