Dream Work

Definition Dreamwork: the mental activity that translates the latent wish-seeking unconscious material into the manifest imagery that disguises it. Dreamwork is NOT the work one does on a dream. Includes condensation, displacement of affect, identification, composition, inversion, and secondary elaboration.

Top 10 dreams are??? With a partner right down the 10 most common dreams

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Dream Work The basis of Freud’s theory of dreams is that dreams are a way for anxiety and other emotions to manifest themselves. Dreamwork This is when we turn the Latent Content into the Manifest Content. FREUD SAW DREAMS AS THE ROYAL ROAD TO THE UNCONSCIOUS… i.e. the best way to get to the unconscious Freud thinks the unconscious has ways of hiding the truth even in dreams & that’s why dreams are mainly symbolic. And so through analysing persons dreams they can be helped in a therapeutic way Thoughts so far?

Dream Work Latent Content – Underlying wish, desire or emotion, e.g. fear of being left alone so dream of a boat sailing away from you Manifest Content ­– What we actually remember from the dream - the story, i.e. remembering that you dreamt of a boat sailing away Displacement – When we turn the object of anger into something else. e.g. using a cow as a symbol for your annoying mother Condensation – When you combine all the things that you’re angry at into one. Secondary Elaboration – This is stringing together the symbols to make a story. This logical version of the symbols may further confuse analysis.

Doing dream analysis Only a highly qualified/experienced psychoanalysts are supposed practice psycho-therapy and therefore use dream interpretation as part of their diagnostic armour and therapeutic practice. Everything you know about Freudian theory is relevant in understanding how dream analysis can be used to help uncover and solve problems. Reflect on the following words and think how they might be relevant to dreams… (the features of analysis) Unconscious, pre-conscious, conscious, Id, ego, super ego, repression, transference, displacement, projection, denial, pleasure principle, reality principle, conscience, ego, anal personality, Oedipus complex, Electra complex.

Conscious (The actual contents of awareness; i.e., what one is conscious of at a given moment. Freud's way of talking about "the conscious" is similar to what a cognitive psychologist means by attention) pre-conscious (The entire set of contents of the mind accessible to consciousness but not in awareness at the moment; i.e., what is descriptively unconscious but not blocked from access by repression or other psychological defenses) Unconscious (Mental processes not accessible to consciousness by direct means, i.e., by turning attention to them. Their existence must thus be inferred through examination of gaps in consciousness, symptoms, dreams, etc) ?

repression (the ego's ridding itself of unacceptable desires and ideas by dumping them into unconsciousness.) transference (emotions such as love and hate can be turned onto the analyst; shows that such emotions are starting to be released) displacement (the transfer of high-impact emotionality onto unimportant material and an emotional cooling to hot material – dream or in reality) Projection (is a defense mechanism that involves taking our own unacceptable qualities or feelings and ascribing them to other people. For example, if you have a strong dislike for someone, you might instead believe that he or she does not like you.)

Denial (one of the best known defense mechanisms, used often to describe situations in which people seem unable to face reality or admit an obvious truth (i.e. "He's in denial."). Denial is an outright refusal to admit or recognize that something has occurred or is currently occurring. Drug addicts or alcoholics often deny that they have a problem, while victims of traumatic events may deny that the event ever occurred.pleasure principle, reality principle (the ego operates according to what is known as the reality principle. The reality principle works to satisfy the demands of the id in ways that are realistic and socially acceptable. The opposing process is known as the pleasure principle, which strives for instant gratification of the id's urges)

anal personality (a personality characterised by meticulous neatness and suspicion and reserve; said to be formed in early childhood by fixation during the anal stage of development usually as a consequence of toilet training) Oedipus complex (the boy wishes to possess his mother and replace his father, who the child views as a rival for the mother's affections) Electra complex (in which girls feel desire for their fathers and jealousy of their mothers)

How is this done? The analyst would normally see the client 3 times a week and a session lasts 50 minutes and would cost at least £50 making this one of the most expensive therapies. It is reasoned that as the analyst knows so much about the client they will be able to properly interpret the symbols of the dream in the context of the clients history and defence strategies.

How it is done? LEARN THESE STAGES! The client is asked to recount their dreams in as much detail as possible. The therapist listens to this, the manifest content (the dream) in order to understand the client’s problems. The therapist is able to uncover the latent content (hidden content of the dream) of the dream and explain this to the client. This enables the therapist and client to understand what is troubling the client and so resolve the issues. Understanding of symbols is vital to the interpretation of the dreams especially as one object may represent more than one concept.

What theories arouse from Freud's ideas? Conflict theory The work of Abend Arlow is associated with conflict theory. This is the idea that dreams can be used to uncover and understands conflict in the unconscious mind the therapist can then help to resolve the conflict and heal the person.

What theories arouse from Freud's ideas? Object relations theory The work of Winnicott is associated with object relations theory. This is when a negative self has developed early on in life which holds the person back, guilt may then occur and other conflicts which may be uncovered through interpreting the symbols of dreams

What theories arouse from Freud's ideas? Interpersonal psycho analysis Fromme – Reichman is associated with this theory. This focuses on how a person may hide themselves when they are interacting with others again the individuals true feelings about what they do may be housed in the unconscious mind and only be accessible through dream analysis.

Evaluation points: From a psychological point of view what are the strengths and weakness of this technique?

Evaluation points: The case study of Y backs up dream analysis theory that anxiety can manifest itself in dreams, because she was pregnant which is probably an anxious time and she reported having more vivid dreams. Freud does back up his theory with a number of case studies such as Dora and little Hanns. Such case studies are rich in detail and are valid in the sense that they were collected in real life interactions that would have been taking place whether or not they were used as research evidence. Also in everyday life many people report having dreams that are clearly linked to anxieties e.g. missing an exam or having no paper or pen in an exam the night before. And so it is reasonable to think that dream analysis may well uncover deep rooted problems. When it comes to problems of a sexual nature even today sexual issues are often viewed as embarrassing and so dream analysis may well be a unique opportunity to unveil something that a person is uncomfortable talking about. Many people feel that if we do not dream in symbolic forms as suggested by Freud then it is difficult to explain why dreams should often be so bizarre

Evaluation points: There are Psychologists that disagree with Freud with regard to the purpose of dreams e.g. Crick and Mitchison claim that we dream to forget and get rid of all the unwanted memories that we have collected as the day has gone on. If this is the case then analyzing the meanings seems a fairly pointless exercise Other than case studies there is very little evidence that dreams are a way of getting rid of unwanted desires fears and anxieties, and we can not really generalize from this type of evidence According to Freud, dreams can be interpreted by trained Psychoanalysts but many psychologists feel that even if they are a way of accessing the unconscious, it is far too subjective for one person to try to interpret another’s dream; the dream may not be retold exactly as it was experienced at the time and the analyst may misinterpret the meaning as he /she could never know everything about a person’s life. Storr 87 says that analysts use their own subjective personal opinion in analysis. Others may go further and suggest that a psychoanalytic interpretation is totally contaminated by the analysts indoctrination with Freudian theory causing a bias towards sexual motivation at every opportunity

So what about evaluating the usefulness of dream work? The client has to remember and report dreams accurately if dream analysis if to have any value The client is dependent on the interpretation of the therapist in understanding what the dreams mean Symbol interpretation can be very person specific so a different therapist may interpret dream content differently The view of dreams as a vital way of accessing unconscious feelings is not shared by physiological psychologists (1 mark) who see dreams as a bi-product of the day’s activities, so meaningless (2nd mark) Dream analysis can access root causes of a disorder whereas drug treatments merely mask the problems Dream analysis is valuable in treating e.g. PTSD whereas drug treatment damps down the anxiety component

In the exam….