Dream analysis Flashcards
What is manifest content?
The reported event in the dream (eg. I had a dream about kings and queens)
What is latent content?
The underlying meaning behind the dream (e.g. the kings and queens are parents in symbolic form)
What is dream analysis?
A technique used in psychoanalysis to help treat mental abnormalities
What did Freud believe about dreams?
Cited dreams as the ‘royal road to the unconscious’ and believed that through dreams a person could freely express what is represented in the unconscious mind
What is condensation and an example? (dream analysis)
Condensation is when a number of elements is combined into one dream so the dream becomes more compact. One object may have several associations
Example- Freud dreamed of a person who was made up of several different elements of people he knew
What is displacement and an example? (dream analysis)
The emotion centred on something or someone is detached from that object or person and moved onto another less significant object or person
Example- A person who is angry at his boss may dream about kicking his cat
What is symbolism and an example? (dream analysis)
Abstract concepts are represented in a symbolic form
Example- A fear of authority may be represented by a powerful figure such as a king
What is secondary revision and an example? (dream analysis)
The creation of a narrative to give the dream coherence and structure
Example- A logical storyline is created whereby you dream about a sequence of events
What is an assumption about dream analysis?
Mental health problems are caused by past experiences
What is a key aim of psychoanalysis?
To unlock the unconscious memories and bring them into conscious awareness so patient can gain insight into the reasons for their behaviour. Patient can face up to memories rather than burry them where they may cause problems
What does the psychodynamic approach assume?
Abnormalities in adulthood have their root cause of the experiences of childhood. Maternal deprivation experienced in the sensitive period can have lasting consequences. Also to explore early relationships with the primary caregiver and uncover any traumatic experiences that could explain abnormal behaviour
What is dreamwork?
The process of transforming a latent desire into manifest content (takes place while we are sleeping)
What may a therapist ask while dealing with dream analysis?
- May ask patient to keep a dream diary. Dreams can then be recalled in therapy
- If the patient chooses the therapist will try to work with the patient to make sense of the underlying meaning behind the dream
- Therapist will offer suggested interpretations of the dream and allow the patient to consider whether that seems acceptable to them
How effective is dream analysis?
-Positive compared to other therapies (such as drugs) that
do not treat the cause of behaviour
-Negative, the underlying cause of behaviour can take a
long time to find and therefore would cost a lot
-Eysenck (1952) found that dream analysis provides no
benefits to a person beyond those that could naturally
occur over time without treatment. He compared the
results of 24 studies to see if psychoanalysis was more
effective than other forms of therapy. He found patients
did recover but the rate of recovery was comparable to
those without treatment
-Psychoanalysis was less effective than behavioural
therapies
What are ethical considerations with dream analysis? (power of the therapist)
Grünbaum (1993) researched the power the therapist has in the relationship with the patient. He believed that the reason why psychoanalysis may lead to a cure is because the patient is in a powerful relationship with the therapist. Part of the power is that the therapist can never be wrong. For example, if the patient challenges the therapist in their interpretation, the challenging behaviour could be interpreted as their abnormal behaviour.
