The Interpretation of Dreams Lesson 02: Interpreting Dreams…

Starter: What was meant by the following terms…  Manifest and latent content Dreamwork  Condensation  Displacement  Secondary Elaboration? The interpretation of dreams

WHERE’S IT GONE? DISPLACEMENT CAN YOU FIND AND DEFINE ANY ASPECTS RELATING TO FREUDIAN DREAMWORK HEREIN? Not the first time this has been done: amplification: addition of extra material or illustration or clarifying detail; expansion: a discussion that provides additional information; develop in intricate and painstaking detail

I dreamt that I was standing in the snow next to some red plastic starting blocks, looking up at a HUGE Jenson Button who was standing on top of a big hill. In the distance, a trumpet fanfare could be heard, blowing in the wind... What aspects of this dream might be features of dreamwork? The interpretation of dreams

I dreamt that I was standing, bare foot, in the throne room of a great palace. All of a sudden everything started to shake, and then things began to fall – the mighty throne fell off its platform (king and all), a ‘Wanted’ poster (with a picture of me!) tumbled to the floor, a tiny jester’s hat went flying off a shelf... I went to the window to see what was causing all of this, and saw flaming meteorites showering the earth with fire and destruction... The interpretation of dreams

You have five minutes to try to work out your client’s dream. Then it will be time to exchange roles. The interpretation of dreams… At your tables, identify one psychoanalyst and one patient. Patient: Share your dream with your ‘analyst’. Answer any reasonable questions they might have. Analyst: Try to work out the latent content of your ‘client’s’ dream. Ask any questions you think an analyst might ask in order to help identify some of the themes within the dream.

Plenary: Is this theory any good?  Think about what we have covered in the past few lessons.  Think about the issues that might have been raised as you tried to analyse each others’ dreams.  What do you feel are the strengths of Freud’s dream theory?  What seem to be the key weaknesses?  What’s your overall assessment of the theory?  Bonus marks for all sensible points that you make that no-one else has considered. The interpretation of dreams…