dream analaysis

Table of Contents

Sigmund Freud, The father of psychology as referred to many around the world till this very day. Freud developed an interest in dreams as his patient would disclose their dreams whilst in therapy under his supervision, which today is called psycho analysis. Carl Jung another very important figure in the shaping of psychology was in fact a student of Freud, but although he Jung was indeed a student of Freud they did not necessarily come to the same conclusion when it came to their theory about the interpretation of dreams. In short according to Freud , dreams are the reflection of the unconscious whereas Jung not only expanded on that but also added a twist and went on to say that dreams not only lead to a personal sub consciousness they also contained a collective unconsciousness. Brlizg (1995)
I will roughly present the two theories and attempt to describe the theoretical foundations of psychoanalysis and Jungian analysis and therapy, discuss the key concepts in the various theories, explore the implications of the key concepts on personality theory and counseling as well as summarize basic techniques and therapeutic goals and processes, on the one of the theories I will journal one of my own dreams and attempt to interpret it.

The theoretical foundations of Psychoanalysis and Jungian Analysis

Now as mentioned earlier in the introduction, Freud ultimately became accustomed to hearing the dreams of his patients and rather developed a profound interest in the subject of dreams, he soon included the interpretation of dreams in psychoanalysis alongside hypnosis and free association. Brlizg (1995)
As the end of the 19th century wound up, Freud had then researched and unveiled the mechanisms of dreams, and there after dream analysis became the indispensable tool in the psychoanalyst’s therapy. Brlizg (1995) Then again what is the purpose of dreams or how does one achieve a good quality dream or better yet how does one interpret their own dreams or those of others? Another important note is that dream are or may be influenced by notion of Freud’s three structures of personality namely the id the ego and the super ego. Corey (2009)
The id is the foundation of personality that revolves mainly around instincts and pleasure, and therefore it never has any rationality in the way it goes about. The ego is where all reasoning is communicated, as its code is based on the reality principle to satisfy or control the impulses of the id. The superego is modeled on a moral code and either rewards with feelings of pride and self-love or punishes with guilt and inferiority Corey (2009) "A dream is a work of art which requires of the dreamer no particular talent, special training, or technical competence. Dreaming is a creative enterprise in which all may and most do participate." Hall (1953) But who’s to say dreams aren’t just a form of an activity that keeps us from being disturbed during sleep, just as we do activities or work in day time to prevent us from falling asleep or to simply keep us busy. “Dreams are things which get rid of (psychical) stimuli disturbing to sleep, by the method of hallucinatory satisfaction.” Richards (1978)
As cited by Corey (2009, P.76) Freud suggested that dreams are the “royal road to the unconscious” and "an attempted wish-fulfillment." As cited by Hall (1953).
It is known that in his writings about the interpretations of dreams Freud describe a very important process referred to as dream work, Strachey (1971) which in short is much like the main board of the dream creation process. This dream work has four elements much rather like stages and to just to name them; Condensation, Displacement, Symbolization, and Secondary Revision. I will later elaborate as to what happens in the different stages. Freud described two components of dreams in his theory, which are, the Manifest and latent content in dreams. “The manifest content is more or less confined to visual answer on internal stimulus and can thus be quite distant and difficult to connect with latent motive.” Brlizg (1995) The manifest content of the dream is merely the part the dreamer can remember and if possible can relate to as it appears in the form of actual images, thoughts and content contained within the dream whereas the latent content is in a sense the hidden agenda of the purpose of the dream in particular. “If we carry over our conceptions of the separate elements to the whole dream, it follows that the dream as a whole is a substitute for something else”( Richards) ,as cited much better by Brlizg (1995) From (Freud 1977: 116) "the dream we remember [sic] is not exactly the right thing, but rather a deformed substitute for dream." Brlizg (1995) cited (Freud 1987:185) on the "Residua of the day are mental investments, which had not subordinated to general withdrawal of investments, [but] despite that preserved certain amount of libidinal or some other interest." (Freud 1987:185).. It is understood that the residue Freud speaks of is the happenings and memories of the day accumulated as raw material, and processed via the Condensation stage of the dream-work where information is compressed into a single thought or image to aid the fulfillment of the wishes of the dreamer , but as every day is different the content assembled as the residue will provide a different internal stimulus each time and thus allowing the dream-work to conjure up fresh manifest and latent content in the dream. “It is also common that parts of dream are missing and patient cannot or does not want to remember them.” Brlizg (1995), “This is the work of so called resistance, which serves the same purpose as ego in the rise of dream; it just does not allow morally inadmissible instinctive aspirations to become conscious.” Brlizg (1995) “Some parts of latent content appear differently, or not at all, in the manifest content. This transformation is a result of the censorship, which deforms dreams because of scandalous wishes3 that arise when we sleep.” Brlizg (1995) Referring back to the building elements of the dream work namely displacement and symbolization whereas the displacement element “disguises the emotional meaning of the latent content by confusing the important and insignificant parts of the dream. “(“Dream Interpretation: What Do Dreams Mean?” , 2014)” And the symbolization element “censors the repressed ideas contained in the dream by including objects that are meant to symbolize the latent content of the dream. “(“Dream Interpretation: What Do Dreams Mean?” 2014)”, and thus leaving these two elements to be a “systematic process of disguise and distortion of things, which are painful or otherwise unacceptable to the dreamer." (Watkins 1997) As cited by Brlizg (1995) The final stage in the dream-work is called the Secondary Revision where the eccentric elements and raw materials are reorganized in the sense of making the dream comprehensible, hence the imagery formed as the manifest content. “(“Dream Interpretation: What Do Dreams Mean?” , 2014)” Freud’s understudy in the subject of dreams, Carl Jung” believed that by understanding how one 's personal unconscious integrates with the collective unconscious, a person can achieve a state of individuation, or wholeness of self." (Vered 1997) As cited by Brlizg (1995). He then proclaimed that dreams not only reflected a personal unconscious but also a collective unconscious, Brlizg (1995) which suggests that we have a built in universal unconscious much like an stock room or an archive containing information of spiritual, religious and mythological symbols and experiences.
Jung also incorporated four stages to dream interpretation but not exactly like the elements in that of the dream work notion from Freud. Jung theorized that the first phase named the exposition accounts for the setting of the dream entailing a conflict expressed in the dream. The plot is the second phase that usually administers a different angle or change, in the next phase, the culmination is where most of the critical transformation occurs in order to bring closure to the dream or dreamer. Leaving the fourth and final stage being the denouement, well this is where Jung believed that, it is what it is, meaning the dream will always have an ending that can’t be influenced to suite the dreamer, much rather it will be a truthful ending based on a real conflict or reflection of one’s life. Brlizg (1995) Jung maintained the notion of the collective unconscious consisting of various myths, religions and many more thoughts that are spiritual or superstitions hard wired in our unconscious to help make rational or realistic decisions otherwise known as Archetypes. The persona, the anima & animus and the shadow are the key concepts of the archetypes.
The Persona is in a sense the human veil we wear or the image we choose to portray to the public for our protection of our inner self. (Vered 1997) As cited by Brlizg (1995) "The persona consists of what a person appears to be to others, in contrast to what s/he actually is. That is to say the persona is the role the individual chooses to play in life, the impression and the way s/he wishes to appear to, and makes on, the outside world." .The animus and anima refer to concept that there are both masculine and feminine forces in both the male and female sexes respectively. The shadow can well be the most dangerous and powerful factor in the archetypes as it “represents our dark side, the thoughts, feelings, and actions that we tend to disown by projecting them outward.” Corey (2009,P.80) Jung also proposed that in order for us to become integrated we had to acknowledge and accept that in our own nature there are both constructive and destructive forces forming our dark side otherwise known as the shadow. Corey (2009)

My dream
My dream starts with me entering one of my most trusted barbershops; I wait for my barber to finish with another client first before he attends to me. When he finally comes around to me I am so excited I can hardly talk anymore, so with me not being able to talk and tell him what hairstyle I want he gets started. He started off by shaving the back of my head completely bold then holding up a mirror to show me what he did without me knowing. He had this continuous grin on his face as if he had accomplished the greatest thing in his life while continuing to shave my head. In that same instance I’m kicking and screaming and flashing red with anger as I want to smack this barber so dearly, but I could not get up from the chair and strangely enough there where really no strings or anything holding me down. After I left the barber shop I went into great depression, never leaving the house not even for school, which resulted in me being expelled from school. The sound of my alarm ended the dream, which I am surprised to even remember afterwards, so there e is most definitely a strong conflict I need to deal with. See appendix 1 for free association

Dream interpretation
I will be using Freud’s theory for the interpretation of my dream. I will incorporate the likes of the manifest and latent content, the residua notion and a piece of the topographical model will be included.
The manifest content derived from this dream was merely the agonizing thought of me losing my beloved hair, which completes my personal image.
The latent content however was quite strongly suggestive in the thought of what could happen if ever I was to lose my hair, the id mechanism is driven by instinct, and it was left severely damaged in a sense that it could not in fact not react instinctively to this conflict situation. However the ego mechanism I believe is the reason I felt like I was pinned to my seat, and although it did not present any psychical restraints, I was indeed psychologically paralyzed in that moment of anger. The ego fortunately did not satisfy the id’s instinct to strike as it relies heavily on the reality principle and rational thinking, otherwise I would be faced with the consequences of reality. Because the id did not get its way in the beginning, led to the super ego being thrown off course as it strives for perfection and towards an ideal situation. The thought of my hair gone is not in any anyway an ideal situation as the only way I could rectify that mistake was to wait till the hair grew back and that in itself send me into a great depression, as the changes made to my appearance where not customary to the super ego’s values and standards of society. Corey (2008, P.62)
How this dream came about however is in fact related to the thought of me visiting the barber for my regular haircut. Mind you, I pass by this particular barber shop on my way to school, which has me preoccupied with assignments at the moment. So the day before I had this dream I was actually standing at the entrance of this barber shop contemplating whether I had enough time to get a full hairdo or not, I decided not to in the end, and that lead to experience forming the residua of the day that caused the occurrence of the dream I would think. Brlizg (1995)

Conclusion
This essay has in fact taught me a lot about dreams pointing mainly at the significance or message in regards to a real life conflict fear or wish it may be trying to bring to the conscious mind.
The help to realizes the conflict being presented in the dream is just as good as the interpretation of the dream in particular, so one has to be careful in the conclusions they draw to because if you were to conclude and started confronting a conflict not stressed in the dream it could well lead to many more unwanted conflicts.

References Brlizg (July 1998)
Retrieved July, 15, 2014, from (http://www2.arnes.si/~uljfdv15/library/art06.html) Cherry, K, (2014)
Retrieved July, 15, 2014, from (http://psychology.about.com/od/statesofconsciousness/p/dream-interpret.htm)
Corey, G, (2009). Theory and practice of Counseling and psychotherapy, United States of America: Brookes/Cole, Cengage learning
Hall C, S (1953).
Retrieved July, 15, 2014, from http://www2.ucsc.edu/dreams/Library/hall_1953b.html
Strachey, J,(1971). The interpretation of dreams, Great Britain: Lowe and Brydone (printers) LTD, London.
Richards, A, (1978).Sigmund Freud 1.Introductory lectures on psychoanalysis, Great Britain: Cox& Wyman Ltd, London.

Appendix 1
Free association
A barbershop is of significance to me because I associate it with the feeling of being relaxed waiting for the best part to come around which is the part where you leave feeling and looking good, much like how one would feel on a Sunday morning waiting for that Sunday lunch to be served. But in fact the complete opposite happened, I went there expecting that good Sunday feeling but the barber had a different agenda, he turned my whole experience upside down, he almost was like the id in a person much to the notion of it being impulsive and doing what it pleases, the barber just started shaving my head bold without waiting for directions, merely because I could not talk. The possible associations I can relate that image to is that of me attending my first year of college and the time of assignment has arrived and I’m much clueless as what the lecturer expects of me so I am rather drawn to just go in the direction of trial and error in trying to be original.
After the barber starts destroying my image, I want so badly to strike him but I cannot bring myself to do it. For me the part where the barber is destroying my image points to the possibility of me failing my assignment and the part where I want to strike but can’t relates to the fact that I want to voice my anger on the subject of not being guided properly to complete these assignments but can’t because I know it’s an academic department where one is expected to find their own way.
The part of going into this deep depression and being suspended interrelates to the feeling of despair and hopelessness on the subject of school and wanting to drop out already.

References: Brlizg (July 1998) Retrieved July, 15, 2014, from (http://www2.arnes.si/~uljfdv15/library/art06.html) Cherry, K, (2014) Retrieved July, 15, 2014, from (http://psychology.about.com/od/statesofconsciousness/p/dream-interpret.htm) Corey, G, (2009). Theory and practice of Counseling and psychotherapy, United States of America: Brookes/Cole, Cengage learning Hall C, S (1953). Retrieved July, 15, 2014, from http://www2.ucsc.edu/dreams/Library/hall_1953b.html Strachey, J,(1971) Richards, A, (1978).Sigmund Freud 1.Introductory lectures on psychoanalysis, Great Britain: Cox& Wyman Ltd, London.