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=Content (Freudian dream analysis)= From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sigmund Freud, in his book The Interpretation of Dreams, suggested what he believed was “the most valuable of all the discoveries it has been my good fortune to make.” Dreams allow a psychic safety net to be created that lets out feelings that may or may not be against the norm. Freud defines a dream’s manifest content as a censored, figurative interpretation of its latent content, which includes senseless desires that would be inappropriate if conveyed directly.

Contents [hide] 1 Definitions 2 Parts of the Mind & Dreams 3 Interpreting Dreams 4 References 5 External links [edit]Definitions

IIntroduction:'''

Understood in terms of successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations, dreams can be explained as involuntarily occurrences within the mind throughout various stages of sleep. Building upon biblical interpretation of dreams from being viewed predominantly in terms of prophecies or divine revelations, Freud’s (1913) The Interpretation of Dreams perceived these nightly visions through an evolutionary biological perspective as a product of one’s individual psyche. As the “royal road to the unconscious”, dreams allow for accessibility to parts of the mind that are inaccessible through conscious thought. According to his psychoanalytic theory, dreams, like most psychological experiences, can be understood through two distinctively significant levels of content. It is clear that dreams contain fundamentally meaningful information. Therefore, appropriate interpretations can facilitate assistance in understanding, “whether, when, and how unconscious processes are truly relevant to daily life” (Friedman, 2012).

Definitions
Manifest Content: The manifest content can be interpreted as the information that the consciously individual remembers experiencing. It consists of all the elements of actual images, thoughts, and content within the dream that the individual is cognitively aware of upon awakening. Illustrated through iceberg imagery, the manifest content would be identified as the “tip”: it is barely exposed above the surface with an enormous portion still hidden underneath. As the hallmark of psychoanalytic theory suggests, what is observed on the surface is only a partial representation of the vastness that lies beneath (Friedman, 2012). Although images may initially appear bizarre and nonsensical, individual analysis of the dream can reveal its underlying meaning.

Latent Content: Related to yet distinctly separate from manifest content, the latent content of the dream illustrates the hidden meaning of one’s unconscious thoughts, drives, and desires. The unconscious mind actively suppresses what can be revealed from the latent content in order to protect the individual from primitive feelings that are particularly difficult to cope with. Freud (1913) believed that by uncovering the meaning of one’s hidden motivations and deeper ideas, an individual could successfully understand his or her internal struggles through eventually resolving issues that create tension in their lives.

III. Parts of the Mind & Dreams

The main tenet of Freud’s work is the parts of the mind, known as the id, ego, and superego. The id is the unconscious and impulsive part of the psyche that seeks to satisfy our primitive drives and emotions. The ego is the reality conscious aspect of the mind that balances the id’s animalistic tendencies and the morality of the superego. The superego, therefore, is the internalized social norms that keeps us on a straight and narrow path.

While the ego and superego guide an individual’s behavior during the day, the id is the primarily active part of the mind at night. Therefore, dreams are a product of the id’s expression of internal conflict, when repressed emotions and memories are brought to awareness in rather distorted forms. The impulses and desires of the dreams are normally suppressed by the superego when the individuals awaken, causing people to forget a substantial amount of their nightly dreams.

IV. Interpreting Dreams:

The technique of free association, actively utilized by Freud in dream interpretation, often begins with a psychoanalyst’s analysis of a specific dream symbol followed by the proceeding thought that automatically comes to a client’s mind. To further this investigative practice, Freud classified five separate processes that facilitate dream analysis.

1) Displacement occurs when the desire for one thing or person is symbolized by something or someone else

2) Projection happens when the dreamer propels their own personal desires and wants onto another person

3) Symbolization is illustrated through a dreamer’s unconscious allowing repressed urges and desires to be metaphorically acted out.

4) Condensation illustrates the process by which the dreamer hides their feelings and/or urges through either contraction or minimizing its representation into a brief dream image or event

5) Rationalization (also referred to as secondary revision) can be identifies as the final stage of dreamwork in which the dreaming mind intently organizes an incoherent dream into something much more comprehensible and logical for the dreamer (Freudian Dream Tools)

Furthermore, Freud believed in the universality of symbols in dreams. These symbols highlight socially undesirable behavior in more accepting forms. Distasteful images in the form of symbols can be associated by shape, action, color, number, quality, status, sound, etc. Some of the more obvious and salient dream symbols are: Vagina- circular objects; jewelry Penis & testicles- oblong objects; the number three Castration- an action that separates a part from the whole (losing a tooth) Coitus- an action that resembles sexual behavior (riding a horse) Urine- anything yellow in color Feces- anything brown in color; chocolate

Practicing free association with a dream psychoanalyst can provide the individual with a deeper understanding of the meaning of dreams and the possible regressive thoughts are affiliated with the unconscious images.

While the ego and superego guide an individual’s behavior during the day, the id is the primarily active part of the mind at night. Therefore, dreams are a product of the id’s expression of internal conflict, when repressed emotions and memories are brought to awareness in rather distorted forms. The impulses and desires of the dreams are normally suppressed by the superego when the individuals awaken, causing people to forget a substantial amount of their nightly dreams.

'''III. Interpreting Dreams'''

The technique of free association, actively utilized by Freud in dream interpretation, often begins with a psychoanalyst’s analysis of a specific dream symbol followed by the proceeding thought that automatically comes to a client’s mind. To further this investigative practice, Freud classified five separate processes that facilitate dream analysis.

1) Displacement occurs when the desire for one thing or person is symbolized by something or someone else

2) Projection happens when the dreamer propels their own personal desires and wants onto another person

3) Symbolization is illustrated through a dreamer’s unconscious allowing repressed urges and desires to be metaphorically acted out.

4) Condensation illustrates the process by which the dreamer hides their feelings and/or urges through either contraction or minimizing its representation into a brief dream image or event

5) Rationalization (also referred to as secondary revision) can be identifies as the final stage of dreamwork in which the dreaming mind intently organizes an incoherent dream into something much more comprehensible and logical for the dreamer (Freudian Dream Tools)

Furthermore, Freud believed in the universality of symbols in dreams that can be used in dream interpretation. These symbols highlight socially undesirable behavior in more accepting forms. Distasteful images in the form of symbols can be associated by shape, action, color, number, quality, status, sound, etc. Some of the more obvious and salient dream symbols are:

1) Vagina- circular objects; jewelry

2) Penis & testicles- oblong objects; the number three

3) Castration- an action that separates a part from the whole (losing a tooth)

4) Coitus- an action that resembles sexual behavior (riding a horse)

5) Urine- anything yellow in color

6) Feces- anything brown in color; chocolate

Practicing free association with a dream psychoanalyst can provide the individual with a deeper understanding of the meaning of dreams and the possible regressive thoughts are affiliated with the unconscious images.

V. References

http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/dreamtheory/freud.htm http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/understanding-the-id-ego-and-superego-in-psycholog.html http://www2.ucsc.edu/dreams/Library/hall_1953a.html Freud, S. (1900), Interpretation of dreams. Standard Edition, 5. Róheim, Géza. The magical function of the dream. The International Journal of Psychoanalysis30 (1949): 172-177.