Sigmund Freud's Dream Interpretation

In “On Dreams”, Freud (1901) lays out many of his thoughts of the fundamentals about dreams and their interpretation through the interpretation of his own dream which occurred on July 23-24th, 1895. In this case study, the fundamental concepts of dream interpretation will be outlined beginning with an analysis of the difference between manifest and latent content of dreams. Also included will be a discussion of of condensation and displacement as forms of distorting dreams and the related concepts of censorship and repression. It is the purpose of this paper to detail the aspects of the work which provided the foundation and impetus for the psycho-analytic movement from which his ideas furthermore emerged. Fundamentally, Freud believed that dreams were an emotional and intellectual substitution for actual thoughts. He used his own dream about, briefly, eating …show more content…
The first instinct in this case is to reject the conclusion of the dream and that it represents a part of one 's psychical life. This is what repression is, “by virtue of a particular psychological condition, the thoughts could not become conscious to me” (Freud, 1901, 80). This is the result of the inability of the consciousness to recognize part of the dream as part of him. The fact that the dream may be obscure may be part of a conscious desire to make sure that certain thoughts and emotions remain hidden. The utility of this concept depends on the patient. If they are healthy they may reject the idea that there is any repression involved but where neurosis is involved it is crucial that these repressed thoughts be uncloaked because they may be connected to the illness. An example Freud uses is that of a woman uncovering repressed thoughts indicating she did love her