...of Freudian dream theory and will go on to describe the various components of personality structure and the unconscious from a psychodynamic perspective. This essay will analyse one of my personal dreams using Freud’s dream analysis theory and conclude with a critical reflection on the application of his theory as it relates to my dream. When Freud famously referred to dreams as being the ‘royal road to the unconscious’, he meant that dreams were a way in which to access the unconscious mind. Dream analysis in psychoanalysis is the process used to explore the role dreams play in the unconscious (Corey, 2005). The purpose of Freud’s theory of dream analysis is to gain better access to the unconscious in order to bring it into the conscious (Day, 2008). Freud believed that the mind represses painful events that the conscious does not want to remember due to the pain and anxiety they cause (Scharf, 2008). These repressed desires and motivations are freed through dreams which are a direct connection to the unconscious. Freud saw the unconscious as sexual and instinctual in nature and the dream as a disguised unfulfilled wish (Welsh, 1994). To better understand the dynamics between the conscious and the unconscious parts of the mind, Freud (1994) developed the structural model of the psyche which he called “the psychic apparatus”. Freud proposed that the part of the mind that structures behaviour and decisions is composed of three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego; all developing...
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...division of the mind into the conscious and unconscious components have driven research on the brain into very specific directions, and his contributions extend into the field of neuroscience, as well. By exploring the underlying motivations of our behaviors, Freud pioneered new levels of abstraction in human thought. For Freud, the mind is best conceptualized in two distinct components, the conscious and unconscious. The unconscious portion contains the thoughts we may potentially have, as well as the desires which dictate our behavior without our awareness. Societal regulations force us to repress certain aspects of ourselves, and the unconscious serves as the storehouse for this collection. Many of our inner urges are too disturbing for the conscious mind and society at large to cope with immediately. Therefore, we sublimate these secrets into a region we cannot face directly. The ego is responsible for repressing unconscious thoughts. Things that are too disturbing to face immediately are pushed out of awareness by the ego. However, the unconscious continues to exert influence on the behavior of the individual. This psychological pressure creates a continuous battle between the ego and unconscious portions of the psyche. The dynamics of this struggle are the target of much of Freud's psychoanalytic theories. He described the mind as composed of various components. Each component is responsible for one of the various functions the mind executes”...
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...Eric Culpepper February 27, 2012 English 20 History of Dream Interpretation The connection between humans and their existence in this universe is the one thing that can not exactly be proven. There are few spiritual, mystical, and unexplained occurrences that are experienced on earth, but a dream is something that throughout time has been seen as more than it appears to be. Dream’s and their interpretations have been documented throughout history. Dream interpretation is said to be documented thousands of years from present day. From ancient times to present day, people have tried to give meaning to this mystical occurrence in the brain. In early civilizations, dreaming was considered a supernatural communication or a way to communicate with god. Nearly every religion contains a story relating to dreams and communication with a higher power. The process of the mind racing without control, creating emotional and physical sensations has even been theorized by neurologists, scientists, and those who have studied the subject, as a direct line between the conscious, and unconscious. Originally, dreams were believed to be a connection with humans and the mystical world. Dream interpretations have been documented for nearly five thousand years. “The Mesopotamian people (from what is now Iraq) included the Sumerians who left some of the earliest pictographic writings dating back to about 3100 B.C. By 2700 B.C. they had developed a cuneiform type of writing, which consisted...
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...believed that unconscious conflicts are important in shaping personality. However, he believed the unconscious has two layers: the personal unconscious, which resembled Freud’s idea, and the collective unconscious, which contains universal memories of the common human past. Jung called these common memories archetypes. Archetypes are images or thoughts that have the same meaning for all human beings. Jung said that archetypes exist in dreams as well as in art, literature, and religion across cultures. According to Jung, the ego represents the conscious mind while the personal unconscious contains memories, including those that have been suppressed. The collective unconscious is a unique component in that Jung believed that this part of the psyche served as a form of psychological inheritance. It contains all of the knowledge and experiences we share as a species. Jung's theory divides the psyche into three parts. The first is the ego,which Jung identifies with the conscious mind. Closely related is the personal unconscious, which includes anything which is not presently conscious, but can be. The personal unconscious is like most people's understanding of the unconscious in that it includes both memories that are easily brought to mind and those that have been suppressed for some reason. But it does not include the instincts that Freud would have it include. But then Jung adds the part of the psyche that makes his theory stand out from all others: the collective unconscious. You could...
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...Analysis and Interpretation Concordia University- Wisconsin KA October 9, 2012 COUN-554 All human beings are also dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind together. - Jack Kerouac Humans have been studying and trying to understand the meaning behind dreams and what exactly they mean. Although, dream interpretations have been around since 3000-4000B.C., there is still great controversy over analyzing and understanding dreams. According to (Word IQ, 2010), dream interpretation is the art of determining the meaning of the symbolic content of a dream. During the Greek and Roman periods, dreams were believed to be direct messages from their gods or the dead. They believed that dreams forewarned and predicted the future, and therefore, provided them with solutions on how to handle situations. The Greek and Roman people had self-help techniques for inducing certain dreams. They also believed in the significance of dreams, and used interpreters to work alongside both military and political leaders. Dream interpretation is also a part of psychoanalysis; psychoanalytical therapists analyze the content of the dream, perception of dream, hidden content of a dream, and the meaning of the dream and the reasons the dream occurred. Sigmund Freud’s pioneering psychoanalytic approach to interpreting dreams is currently used in Modern-day therapeutic settings. Another approach to dream interpretation is from a Christian biblical perspective. Dream interpretation dates back to...
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...Carl Jung has a very broad interpretation of 'religion' and to understand it, one must first examine the concepts Jung puts forward to explain his theory- the collective unconscious and archetypes, as frameworks within the collective unconscious, and how they relate to the process of individuation, the process by which the conscious individual 'harmonises' their psyche (mind). Jung accounts for religion as an expression of the collective unconscious of the species (though Jung may not have agreed with speciation) - religion helps the individuation process. within Jung's concept of the psyche, a three tier system - the personal conscious, the personal unconscious (repressed memories) and the collective unconscious (the blueprint that 'religious' images emerge from, conditioned by the archetypes). The expression of this psyche is the 'libido' (desire), the 'life-force' or energy that is focused through the archetypes. The archetypes are 'conceptual' frames that are shared by the entire species, they are 'functional dispositions' that innately generate images; the archetypes date back to pre-man evolutionary stages. Some examples of these archetypes are the persona - which manifests in dreams as images of masked parties, or suits of armour, the persona represents the 'outward facing' part of the psyche, the extrovert, which interacts with people; the shadow - this generates 'wilderness' or 'woodland' type images, and represents the 'dark', withdrawn 'inwards facing' part of the...
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...Sigmund Freud is known as one of the most influential and recognized names in the field of psychology. Freud was one of the founding fathers of psychology and had many contributions such as the Oedipus complex, Freudian Slips and Dream Analysis to name a few. His study of the psychology on the mind and repressed feelings all attribute to his contributions to psychology. One of Freud’s most interesting was on Dream Analysis which encompasses the symbolism in the mind during the dreaming stage of the sleep cycle. Sigmund Freud was born in Austria in 1856 and studied as a neurologist and psychiatrist at the University of Vienna. While at the university he presented his studies on psychodynamics in Ernest Wilhelm von Brucke’s Lectures of Physiology. Later in 1879, Freud completed his studies and obtained his Dr. Med with his thesis on the spinal cord of lower fish species. Freud opened his own practice in 1886 focusing on Neurology. At his practice, Freud started initially used hypnosis to help his neurotic patients, but then stopped in favor of the psychotherapeutic approach. Patients would relay their feelings through speech, also coined as the “talking cure” by Anna O, one of Freud’s patients. As Freud continued his studies, he believed that sexual interaction hindered ones accomplishments in life and so he ceased sexual relations with his wife. According to Freud’s biographer, Ernest Jones, Freud was absolutely celibate “in order to sublimate the libido for creative purposes...
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...affect the way that people viewed the human mind. Carl Gustav was a practicing psychotherapist while Sigmund Freud created the discipline of psychoanalysis. The two men had seemingly identical beliefs about human behavior, but also had contrasting beliefs about concepts such as the ego, the psyche, and the state of unconsciousness. Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud’s Theories Sigmund Freud’s beliefs about personality were based on past experiences in an individual’s childhood. Freud stated that all human beings had three personality levels. These were the ego, the id, and the superego. The level of the id is the one that houses a person’s primitive drives and supports the enactment of decisions that are purely based on pleasure. The id’s objective is to avoid pain at all costs and only seek pleasurable sensations. The ego, on the other hand, identifies the significance of reality and makes decisions based on concepts such as judgment, perception recognition, and memory. The last level, the superego, is dedicated to seeking perfection (Reber, 2006). This level houses the individual’s accepted social morals and ideals in the conscience. Jung had different views about the different mental levels in the conscious mind. Instead of the ego, id, and superego, Jung perceived the human thought process as constituting of an individual level of unconsciousness, an ego, and a collective unconscious. According to Jung, the ego was actually the conscious mind which had connections with the individual...
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...Psychoanalytic Personality Assessment Joe Johnson PSY/250 February 2, 2015 Anne Snyder Psychoanalytic Personality Assessment As psychoanalytical schools of thought have developed over the years, a number of different approaches have emerged that have shaped and formed the administration of psychotherapy. While each differs in their approach to the end result, they share a common goal to help nurture the wellbeing of an individual, both consciously and unconsciously. Where some build an experimental relationship, others will use dialogue and speech to establish a rapport, or focus specifically on improving overall mental health of the patient. (Bouchard et al., 2001) While effectiveness normally requires the treatment to be fitted to the specific psychological problem for the patient, some debate remains on which is the best possible course of action for each. There are three primary psychoanalytical theories commonly applied to psychotherapy, which are respectively attributed to Freud, Jung, and Adler. (McCrae, 2011) This paper attempts to compare and contract the three different theories and provide the stages of Freud’s theory along with three uses of Freudian defense mechanisms. Psychoanalytic Theory, Three Schools of Thought Freud’s psychoanalytic theory is based on the collected works and studies of Sigmund Freud, for whom the theories are named. Most of the base theories developed by Dr. Freud were expanded and split into different schools...
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...psychoanalytic theory with its model of the mind and its central concepts provides a better interpretation of one's behavior and accounts for behavior on a wider scope of issues than does the radical behaviorist theory of B. F. Skinner. Skinner successfully explains human behavior in terms of operant conditioning and reinforcing agents. He changes the focus from Freud's internalized (mental) processes to the importance of the external environment. Skinner emphasizes the importance of the directly observable behavior. However, he fails to completely account for behavior, excluding the original motivational drive. In contrast, Freud succeeds in construing the origins of behavior and motivation, which makes the psychoanalytic theory of Freud more adequate as a theory of personality. Throughout history humans have been puzzled by human behavior, the reasons behind it, and have been faced with the consequences of their own as well as others' behavior. Many studies have been done and theories developed in an attempt to explain this fascinating area of human existence. Among many theories and theorists, Freud's psychoanalytic and Skinner's radical behaviorist theories have been selected and looked at throughout the following paper. Theory of personality that Freud introduced together with its concepts, many deemed romantic, unprovable and sometimes obscene, has shaped the way humans view themselves in many cases. He introduced concepts of the unconscious, id, ego, superego, repression...
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...individual seeking psychotherapy. For psychotherapy to work effectively, one must first evaluate the psychological issue at hand. Every individual has a personality that is uniquely made up eight key aspects that are the unconscious, ego forces, biological, conditioning, cognitive, traits, spiritual dimension, and interaction. Although there might be similarities between personalities, it is impossible to have the same eight key aspects on more than one individual. Personality psychology truly is fascinating and is defined as the scientific study of psychological forces that make individuals unique. This paper will compare and contrast the psychoanalytic theories of Freud, Jung, and Adler. These three theorists devoted much of their time and energy developing unique approaches, methods, and techniques of psychoanalytic theory used to treat patients today. Sigmund Freud was the true founder of the psychoanalytic theory. Later, his student’s Alfred Adler and Carl Jung questioned Freud’s interpretation of dreams resulting in the Adler and Jungian theories. The psychoanalytic theory developed by Freud encouraged patients to discuss memories of early childhood, interactions, and fantasies. Freud believed that the use of free association and dream analysis revealed the unconscious forces driving one’s inner conflicts. Freud believed that human behavior is subjective to irrational drives that are not displayed on one’s surface. On the other hand, these irrational drives can be found repressed...
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...Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.[1] The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, as well as a subject of philosophical and religious interest, throughout recorded history. The scientific study of dreams is called oneirology.[2] Dreams mainly occur in the rapid-eye movement (REM) stage of sleep—when brain activity is high and resembles that of being awake. REM sleep is revealed by continuous movements of the eyes during sleep. At times, dreams may occur during other stages of sleep. However, these dreams tend to be much less vivid or memorable.[3] The length of a dream can vary; they may last for a few seconds, or approximately 20–30 minutes.[3] People are more likely to remember the dream if they are awakened during the REM phase. The average person has three to five dreams per night, but some may have up to seven dreams in one night.[4] The dreams tend to last longer as the night progresses. During a full eight-hour night sleep, most dreams occur in the typical two hours of REM.[5] In modern times, dreams have been seen as a connection to the unconscious mind. They range from normal and ordinary to overly surreal and bizarre. Dreams can have varying natures, such as frightening, exciting, magical, melancholic, adventurous, or sexual. The events in dreams are generally outside the control of the...
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...Foundations and Components of Psychoanalysis Cohran, Robin Dec, 1, 14 PSY/301 Foundations and Components of Psychoanalysis Psychoanalysis remains the single most influential theory for the practice of psychotherapy. Freud (1964) began the movement and his theory can be broken down into five parts. The first part of Freud’s theory is Dynamics. This level deals with instinctual forces (Rapaport and Gill, 1959). Freud traces all instincts, in a certain sense, therefore all actions, back to two instincts; they are Eros (“sexual instinct” or “libido”) and the “destructive” (aggressive) instinct”. They work together and against each other and have a hand in everything we do. The primary example of this is, sex itself, where of course libido is present, and varying degrees of aggressiveness (or lack of) can lead someone to either be bashful and impotent or a sex murderer and anything in between. Economic Freud’s theory of the instincts is further realized in the “economic” level of his theory. This attempt, in some fashion, to abstractly quantify the power of instincts through the concept of “psychic energy”. This is described through a system in which this energy is invested towards instinctual goals through catharsis, toward maximizing the pleasure for the individual. This, however, is balanced by the concept of anti-catharsises, in which the energy is invested as a force against the instinct, via defense in the ego. Developmental Oral phase begins at birth. Sadistic-Anal...
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...founded by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Freud believed that people could be cured by making conscious their unconscious thoughts and motivations, thus gaining “insight”. The aim of psychoanalysis therapy is to release repressed emotions and experiences, i.e. make the unconscious conscious. Psychoanalysis is commonly used to treat depression and anxiety disorders. It is only having a cathartic (i.e. healing) experience can the person be helped and "cured". Psychoanalysis Assumptions · Psychoanalytic psychologists see psychological problems as rooted in the unconscious mind. · Manifest symptoms are caused by latent (hidden) disturbances. · Typical causes include unresolved issues during development or repressed trauma. · Treatment focuses on bringing the repressed conflict to consciousness, where the client can deal with it. How can we understand the unconscious mind? freud's couch Remember, psychoanalysis is a therapy as well as a Freudian theory. In psychoanalysis (therapy) Freud would have a patient lie on a couch to relax, and he would sit behind them taking notes while they told him about their dreams and childhood memories. Psychoanalysis would be a lengthy process, involving many sessions with the psychoanalyst. Due to the nature of defense mechanisms and the inaccessibility of the deterministic forces operating in the unconscious, psychoanalysis in its classic form is a lengthy process often involving 2 to 5 sessions per week for several...
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...Sigmund Freud explored the human mind more thoroughly than any other who became before him. His contributions to psychology are vast. Freud was one of the most influential people of the twentieth century and his enduring legacy has influenced not only psychology, but art, literature and even the way people bring up their children. Freud’s lexicon has become embedded within the vocabulary of western society. Words he introduced through his theories are now used by everyday people, such as anal (personality), libido, denial, repression, cathartic, Freudian slip, and neurotic. Freud was the founding father of psychoanalysis, a method for treating a mental illness and also a theory which explains human behavior. Psychoanalysis is often known as the talking cure. Typically Freud would encourage his patient to talk freely (on his famous couch) regarding their symptoms and to describe exactly what was in their mind. The Case of Anna O The case of Anna O (real name Bertha Pappenheim) marked a turning point in the career of a young Viennese neuropathologist by the name of Sigmund Freud. It even went on to influence the future direction of psychology as a whole. Anna suffered from hysteria, a condition in which the patient exhibits physical symptoms (e.g. paralysis, convulsions, hallucinations, loss of speech) without apparent physical cause. Her doctor Josef Breuer succeeded in treating Anna by helping her to recall forgotten memories of traumatic events. Breuer discussed the...
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