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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 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.
Freud
Topics:
1:
Sigmund Freud Intro
2
Freudian Dream Tools
3.
5 Stages of Personality Development
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