Dreams From a Freudian Perspective - Essay Example

Dreams from a Freudian Perspective Submitted by: [Client’s Name] Submitted to: [Professor’s Name] [Subject] [Date] It would be very challenging to understand and interpret dreams without first discussing Freud and his theories. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory gives a material meaning to the abstraction of dreams. According to Freud, the mind is composed of two major parts – (a) the conscious mind which is the rational part of the thought process usually manifested as awareness of internal and external events and stimuli and (b) the subconscious mind which is the part of the thought process that is usually hidden, suppressed, or locked in the depths of one’s awareness (or consciousness) because they are considered unpleasant or unacceptable by any rational thinking (Freud, 1911; Corsini & Wedding, 1995). According to Freud, the interplay of the conscious and the subconscious minds dictate a person’s personality. Freud introduced the structural model of personality to account for his definition of the human mind. Structural model states that the personality is composed of three elements which are the id, ego, and superego and the interaction among these three elements result to the complex behaviors of humans. Freud identified id as the primal instinct of humans present at birth. By primal instinct, Freud means that the id controls the raw emotions, feelings, behaviors, and thoughts. Because it is primitive, the id’s main drive is to satisfy desires and needs regardless of the consequences. When these desires are not met, tension occurs within one’s consciousness (Corsini & Wedding, 1995). Freud believes that id is the basis for all personalities (Freud, 1911; Thompson, 1996b). The next element is the ego. While the id is primal, the ego is the one that directs the id into something that is acceptable to the social, moral, and ethical contexts. Freud believes that the ego is a by-product of the id as the id interacts with his external and internal environments. The id would normally encounter difficulties in manifesting itself outside the idealized picture. Constraints such as social norms, moral ethics, and popular conventions often go against the pleasure principle followed by id. In order to transform id into something acceptable, ego evolved in human’s conscious and subconscious minds (Freud, 1911). The ego functions on the principle of reality (Thompson, 1996b). The ego relieves the tension caused by unmet pleasures by regulating the achievement of the pleasures, either by setting the appropriate time or allowing the id to take over on the appropriate place (Corsini & Wedding, 1995). In order to do this, the ego creates a secondary thought process where it channels the tension produced by unmet impulses in order to relieve itself from real-world tensions. One way of doing this is to suppress the raw emotions or primal behaviors into the depths of one’s subconscious only to be evoked when the subconscious takes over the consciousness, like in a dream. The ego exists in both the conscious mind although it also manifests in the subconscious. The last element of the structure of personality is the superego which is composed of ego ideal and the conscience. Superego holds the key to man’s perception of morality, uprightness, social conformity, and normative behaviors. Superego is formed from the collective experience derived from external cues that defines what is moral, ethical, or socially acceptable. According to Freud, the superego is the control center of all the elements of a personality as it is responsible for suppressing all impulses from the id and it directs the ego to translate the impulses into something that is socially, morally, or ethically acceptable. Because of its regulatory function, the superego dwells in the conscious. The various levels of interactions between and among these elements determine the personality and behavior of a person (Freud, 1911; Corsini & Wedding, 1995). Dream and Psychoanalysis In the conscious state of the mind, the superego reigns supreme among the three. The superego acts to suppress the impulses and the desires of the id and at the same time directs the ego on the most appropriate behaviors, feelings, or actions on whichever context they are in. However, this does not mean that the superego’s supremacy during consciousness is absolute as events such as the slip-of-the-tongue, symptoms of neurosis, and dreams occur even in conscious states. The existence of these events suggests that there is an internal battle between the raw, primal impulses of id and the extremely uptight character of the superego (Grunbaum, 1984). Because the impulses and desires are primal, the subconscious mind attempts to protect the conscious from the potentially dangerous, appalling, and disturbing content of the id thus manifesting dreams through symbolisms. Freud proposes how dreams are projected by the unconscious mind. The first is the manifest content or the imagery of the dream as it is delivered. The manifest content can be bizarre, random, or even illogical when viewed with a conscious mind and this is the part of the dream people actually remembers when awake. Our minds can perceive the manifest content of the dream because part of the superego is protecting the mind from the potentially harmful or dangerous impulses of the id (Grunbaum, 1984). The second projection of dreams is through latent content. The latent content is the true meaning of the dreams hidden beneath the symbols, images, and sequences of the manifest content. The latent content of the dream is akin to the primal sensations of the id (Grunbaum, 1984). Because the latent content is not easily accessed, interpreting a dream has to go through Freud’s five classifications of images – displacement (the actual desires are symbolized as a different thing or person), projection (seeing one’s desires from another person’s or thing’s perspective), symbolism (suppressed desires are given metaphoric meanings), condensation (the fusion of two or more images in dreams), and rationalization (the part of the dream where the conscious mind attempt to reconcile images that took place in the dream into coherent and easily identifiable ones). My Dreams (1) The first dream I choose to analyze is my dream about a friend, Cara. In this dream, Cara was nine months pregnant and she sort of invited us over her place for the baby shower. There were a lot of people in her place for the dream but I recognize only a few of them. Somewhere near the end of the dream, Cara mentioned that she is very excited about the baby and she talks a lot about her feelings about having a baby. She also showed us a lot of baby stuff she and her partner bought. In my dream, I was not able to get a glimpse of her partner although I assumed that the partner is her real-life boyfriend. In reality, Cara is not pregnant although she is in a steady relationship with a nice and charming boyfriend. Free Association Process The place in my dream doesn’t look as if it is Cara’s place but there is something about the arrangement of the furniture and the ambiance that tells me it is Cara’s place. But I am not entirely sure if the place replicates the real place Cara owns. The people that were present during the baby shower were strangers to me since they do not look familiar. However, I believe that I know most of them because in my dream, I get to talk to them and ask them random questions and we sort of interact the way close friends do. This feels weird because I don’t normally talk to people who were not formally introduced to me. I am a very reserved person and I tend to be picky when it comes to friends. The most ironic part of the dream is that Cara was so excited about having a baby and her excitement was still painted in her face when I was taken out from my dream. Manifest Content I noticed that there are a lot of irregularities between my dream and my reality. First, Cara is not pregnant and I think she doesn’t want to get pregnant in the next couple of years or more. In my dream, the baby shower was held in a place that is physically very different from Cara’s place since it doesn’t have any walls and people see the outside of the building and can see people passing by saying hello to each other. It is as if the baby shower is a casual party rather than an intimate celebration. Even though the place looks odd to be Cara’s I can feel in my mind that it is Cara’s and I can easily navigate in the place in my dreams to find the kitchen and the comfort room as if it is Cara’s real place. Latent Content/ Analysis of the Dream The dream tells me something of an upcoming celebration that I think is relevant to people close to me. It is possible that my subconscious projects myself as Cara who is deeply satisfied with her life because she’s got everything she could ask for – a supportive partner and an upcoming baby. It is also possible that a huge part of me wanted a simple, happy life as I see in Cara’s life in my dream. The party-like ambiance of the celebration in my dream symbolizes respect and recognition from other people. Part of me also wants other people to be proud and happy of what I have achieved which is probably the reason why I see lot of unfamiliar faces in my dream that celebrated with Cara during the moment. Also, the baby in my dream could be a symbol for new investments, new ideas, or new opportunities which I have been waiting for all this time. (2) In my second dream, I saw myself inside a clothing store, trying to decide whether I should buy clothes. Somehow, I was aware of the fact that I could not afford to buy the clothes I wanted but as the dream developed, it appears as if I was able to purchase all the clothes I want, cutting a very good deal in the process. Free Association Process I think that I dream about buying something I could not actually afford because I have financial worries in the past. It is also possible that I dream of buying new clothes because I am really the type that digs clothes. What I find odd about dream is that even though I know I can’t afford to purchase the new clothes, I was still able to buy them for myself for a very good deal and I find this dream very amusing and very promising. Manifest Content This dream is pretty direct and linear. The dream speaks about an economic activity where I have to participate. In my dream, the clothes store doesn’t appear like a clothes store and all I see in my dream are the clothes I wanted to have. The money I dug out from my pocket is not enough for me to buy the clothes and yet I still took the risk of buying it. It turned out that I got a very good deal from taking the risk of purchasing the clothes. Latent Content/ Analysis of the Dream It is possible that this dream is a symbolism of my inner yearnings for new opportunities and developments in my life given the current state I am in. In my dream, my initial money is not enough to purchase the clothes but after I took the risk of buying the clothes, it turned out that I still have some loose change. The initial money represents my current capabilities which are meager and inadequate, basing on the imagery depicted in my dream. This also represents my fear of mockery and rejection in any failed opportunities in front of me leading to the suppression of my ‘other’ persona. This dream tells me that it is about time for me to take some bold steps in life if I deeply want to get something I like. This dream tells me that I should be bolder in taking risks and more mature in accepting failure for me to gain something valuable. References Corsini, R.J and Wedding, D. (1995) Psychotherapy. Current Psychotherapy (5th ed) Ithaca,Illinois: F.E. Peacock, pp 28-35. Freud, S. (1911). The Handling of Dream-Interpretation in Psycho-Analysis. Standard Edition. London: Hogarth Press. Grünbaum, A. (1984). The foundations of psychoanalysis: A philosophical critique. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. James, J.E. (1993) Cognitive-Behavioural Theory: An Alternative Conception. Australian Psychologist, 28:3, 151-155. Thompson, M. (1996a). Freud’s Conception of Neutrality. Contemporary Psychoanalysis. 32(1). 25-42 Thompson, M.G. (1996b) The Rule of Neutrality. Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Thought,19:1,57-84. Read More