Psychoanalytic Therapy And Dream Analysis

2. There are several techniques that therapists use during psychoanalytic therapy to help the clients uncover their unconscious thoughts and mind. One of these tactics is free association. In this form of therapy, the client is supposed to say anything that comes to mind. The client is not to filter or analyze any of their thoughts, but to just voice the thoughts they have. While they do this, the therapist is analyzing everything they say. No thought or phase is thought to be without meaning. It is natural that during this exercise, the client will inevitably hesitate or show resistance to a thought or idea. When this happens, the therapist will interpret these resistances and what the unconscious mind of the client may be hiding or protecting (Corey, 2013, p. 79-80).
Another technique that is used is interpretation. This technique requires the therapist to interpret the topics of hesitation that may be uncovered in free association, and point them out to the client. This action assists the therapist in helping the client to uncover the meaning behind some of their behaviors. It is the goal of the therapist to provoke the ego …show more content…
As the name implies, this technique involves the therapist analyzing components of the clients dreams. It was Freud’s belief that dreams were a direct road to ones unconscious mind. It is during dreams that an individual’s defenses are down enough to allow unconscious ideas come to the front. Dreams have two types of content, the latent and the manifest content. The latent content is the things that are too painful for the individual to experience, so they are converted to hidden symbols and meanings. The manifest content is simply how the dream appears to the person having the dream. It is the role of the therapist to help uncover and analyze the latent content in the dreams to allow the client access into their unconscious mind (Corey, 2013, p.