|
Freudian
Dream Tools:
According
to Freud, dreams always have a manifest and latent content. The
manifest content is what the dream seems to be saying. It is often
bizarre and nonsensical. The latent content is what the dream is
really trying to say. Dreams give us a look into our unconscious. Freud
believes that we can
chip through the dream's manifest content to reveal the underlying
significance and its latent by utilizing
the technique of "free
Article
continues below
advertisement
association". Using
this technique, you start with one dream symbol and then follow
with what automatically comes to your mind first. You continue in this
manner and see where it leads.
To
further help in interpreting the cryptic images of our dreams, Freud
classified the images into the following five processes:
1.
Displacement
This
occurs when the desire for one thing or person is symbolized by something
or someone else.
2.
Projection
This
happens when the dreamer propels their own desires and wants onto another
person.
3.
Symbolization
This
is characterized when the dreamer's repressed urges or suppressed desires
are acted
out metaphorically.
4.
Condensation
This
is the process in which the dreamer hides their feelings or urges by
contracting it or underplaying it into a brief dream image or event. Thus
the meaning of this
dream imagery may not be apparent or obvious.
5.
Rationalization
This
is regarded as the final stage of dreamwork. The dreaming mind organizes
an incoherent dream into one that is more comprehensible and logical. This
is also
known as secondary revision.
Freud
is particularly preoccupied with sexual content in dreams. He believes
that sex is the root cause of what occurs in your dreams. According
to Freud, every long slender or elongated object (i.e. knife, cigar, gun,
etc) represents the phallus, while any cavity or receptacle (bowl, cave,
tunnel, etc) denotes the female genitalia.
Learn
about Freud's 5 stages of Personality Development
Email
This Page To A Friend
|
