The Application of Psychodynamic Theory Through Dream Analysis

Freud believed that dreams provided pivotal entries for the deeper workings of the mind. A dream simply, is a wish that a person has that is either suppressed or repressed (Wollheim). Many instances of dreams happen in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar that can provide insight on decisions made by the characters more specifically Brutus. When dreaming is apparent in the play what the characters are able to remember is considered “manifest” content. This gives the subject of the dream. For the character to understand the dream is must have a deep meaning in this case the content of that that dream is “latent.” These two contents of dreaming coincide with each other balancing each other making the relationship functional. Dreams have four categories in which the work that go condensation, displacement, representation, and lastly secondary revision (Wollheim). Condensation can be simplified in definition. . . the handling of names and words whilst in a dream. Dreams often wear a disguise as Freud suggests. Displacement has two parts in the functionality of a dream. First the dreams are centered away so they do not show importance and the second function of displacement is the actual dreams doing duties for element in dream thoughts (Wolheim). Imagery is strongly correlated with

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:

Dream content reflects aspects of waking-life experiences. After memories are made, they are often fragmentally merged with other information to construct larger, holistic dreams. Autobiographical memories are predominantly represented in dreams in comparison to episodic and semantic memories. Among various characteristics from waking-life experiences such as places, people, and events, emotions are highly incorporated into dream content. There is also a decreasing relationship between the cognitive demand of an activity and the frequency in which that activity occurs in dreams. Dreams tend to include material from experiential memories and events from the preceding day as well as experiences from 5-7 days prior. The recurrence of memory content in dreams seems to support the hypothesis that dreaming helps with memory consolidation, or particularly the content which is reflected in dreams.

To many people, dreams are the thoughts that occur while sleeping, having almost mystic qualities. For millennia the significance of dreams has escaped even the brightest of philosophers and intellectuals. Many people have speculated about why people dream and what meanings the dreams have but in recent times two theories have gained credibility in answering those questions. The first theory is Sigmund Freuds and the other is known as the cognitive theory of dreams also known as biological determinism.

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.

Sigmund Freud says that "a dream is a disguised fulfillment of a repressed wish". What he means is that every dream represents a wish fulfillment. Dreams represent the imaginary fulfillment of a wish or impulse in early childhood, before such wishes have been repressed. The dream images represent the unconscious wishes or thought disguised through symbolization and other distorting mechanisms. Freud concluded that a dream is the conscious expression of an unconscious fantasy or wish which is not accessible to the individual existence.

A dream, by definition, is a sequence of emotions, ideas, images, and sensations that involuntarily occur in the mind at various times; typically during the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleep (American Heritage Dictionary, 2000). Throughout history, dreams have been the cause of much speculation; holding both philosophical and religious interests (Hobson, 2009). Before the days of scientific research, opinions varied regarding dreams, and their usefulness in psychotherapy. Dreams were often viewed as either being divinely inspired or having derived from a dark, evil source. Even in today’s scientifically advanced society; dreams are still not totally understood.

During sleep, conscious experience is driven by internally generated stimuli that have no apparent behavioral consequences. According to Freud, dreams symbolizes unconscious wishes and that analysis of dream symbols could uncover our hidden desires.

The latent content is the underlying, hidden part of the dream that holds the true meaning of the unconscious desires (Solms, 2000). The process by which the latent content is transformed into the disguised manifest content is what Freud referred to as the dream work (Sharpe, 1988). The dream work can disguise the latent views through the following four mechanisms: ‘condensation’ (the condensing of multiple thoughts into one), ‘displacement’ (replaces a latent element by a concealed trivial reference to it e.g. your mother is represented as a cat), ‘symbolism’ (which transforms thoughts into visual elements) followed by a process of ‘secondary revision’ in which the dreaming mind takes all these distorted elements and organises them into a more comprehensible format (Schredl, 2008)

Dreams, one of the many dimensions in our mind, gives a lot of different information then we are use to having in the day. The subconscious mind that takes control when we sleep, takes care of our passive memories and holds the key to our lives. Dreams are what lead us to this key which unlocks the door to another type of wisdom. The farther we get

180). With each detail being so vital in analyzing dreams, forgotten pieces can leave a puzzle of incompleteness. Confusion while analyzing a dream alters the efficiency of dream work, decreasing benefits of the technique. Care must be taken to discuss each and every detail, so that the true meaning of the dream is understood. “...[E]very dream-analysis reveals an interweaving of a recent impression, and that this recent element is often of the most indifferent character” (Freud, 1987, p. 176). With the ability dream analysis has to help dreamers recall memories of their days, the value of dream analysis is increased greatly. Dream analysis can help to recover forgotten pieces of dreams which can be vital to understanding the purpose of the dream (Freud, 1987, p. 164). Psychotherapy with use of dream analysis can only be helpful if all pieces of a dream can be remembered; dream analysis can be the hero which rescues lost memories. For humans to fully understand the importance and seriousness of dreams is imperative to dream recollection. “We need not underrate the psychic intensities introduced into sleep by these residues of the day’s waking life…” (Freud, 1987, p. 174). These recalled memories are of course helpful to therapists working with a patient, but also to those in service

Most of us have at one time or another experienced a dream, be it a nightmare or a pleasant walk in a forest. Either way, it was always believed that dreams encompass a coded message that might be expressing our hidden wishes, things that happened in the past or even predict the future. In the past, there have been many attempts to unravel the secret hidden behind the dreams and so far the world came up with three main theories of interpreting the dreams (Freudian, Jungian and Cognitive)(Wade, Travis 1998). In this essay I will attempt to analyze my dream by using each of the theories mentioned above, then compare the outcomes as well as their possible connections to my life and in the end determine, which one of these theories is the most

Freud believed that dreams all have hidden messages from the innermost self and tell about desires and fantasies that the body wants to come true. Freud outlined a dream into four parts. They are Condensation, Displacement, Considerations of Representability, and Secondary Revisions. Condensation is the part of the dream that uses one symbol to represent several images or ideas. Displacement, Freud believes, is when your mind takes something that is very important and makes it into something that has less importance in their lives. Considerations of Representability is the part of the dream that uses phrases

Freud’s theory is that dreaming is meaningful, unlike the activation synthesis theory. He believed that the mind had three sections, represented in a shape of an iceberg; the conscious, the subconscious and the unconscious. The conscious is the tip of the iceberg above the water involves everything we are aware of right now such as our thoughts. The

Dreams are the language of a person's subconscious mind. Therefore, taking the opportunity to understand them can lead to great enrichment. This paper demonstrates the similarities and differences between Freud and Jung's idea on dream theory. It illustrates Freud's belief that analyzing dreams could give the interpreter substantial information on that person's psyche. His concept of free association and wish-fulfillment are also explored. Jung's theories are also discussed. Although Jung began as a follower of Freud, he did end up disagreeing on some of Freud's theories. Jung's