dream therapy

• ASSUMPTION APPLICATION

  mental + behavioural disorders come from unconscious mind, due to repressed thoughts + emotions from childhood and unresolved desires of the ID

  to treat this, the unconscious mind needs to be accessed > the ego's defences relax when we sleep, and the material in the unconscious travels to our conscious in dream form

  the material is still threatening so is disguised by symbols that represent the real content > 'dreamwork' is an ego defence mechanism that's used to protect us from the truth
• ASSUMPTION APPLICATION

  aim = uncover the hidden meaning to reveal and confront unconscious conflicts that caused the disorder to resolve it
• MAIN COMPONENTS - DREAMS AS WISH FULFILMENT

  Freud - all dreams are the unconscious fulfilment of wishes that can't be satisfied in the unconscious mind

  dreams allow us to experience conflicts/wishes in a safe way, to protect the sleeper and allow us to express / live out our desires

  ID - able to live out its desires because they are more acceptable in a dream than real life

  dreams stop desires from building up and threatening our sanity

  the repression of our desires is the source of mental and behavioural disorders

  therapy can interpret dreams to uncover the true wishes, aware + resolve
• MAIN COMPONENTS - SYMBOLIC NATURE OF DREAMS

  latent content = true wishes + desires | manifest content = how they're symbolised in dreams

  if we dreamt our true desires > conscious mind would become anxious and stressed

  dreams are expressed as symbols for a 'safer' version

  person recalls symbolic representation

  'dreamwork' - process of changing latent content into manifest content / vice versa

  displacement - transform person/object, displace emotional significance

  condensation - rich detail condensed into brief images

  symbolism - symbol replaces action/person/idea
• MAIN COMPONENTS - DREAM DIARY

  record of dreams, recorded on waking

  Manifest content - basis for therapy discussions

  Manifest content - often forgotten easily, so they write in the diary to keep it in their memory
• MAIN COMPONENTS - ROLE OF THERAPIST

  to reverse the dreamwork process by decoding the manifest content into latent content

  Freud - trained psychoanalytics should do this, as interpretations need to be in context with the client's life + sometimes the manifest content doesn't actually represent something
• MAIN COMPONENTS - EXT - FREE ASSOCIATION

  client verbalises/writes down all thoughts that come to mind without consciously thinking about it > which might allow things to slip through the PFC into the conscious mind

  reveals associations an uncovers repressed memories and emotions, which are able to reveal the truth behind what the symbols represent