The Freudian claim that dreams are meaningful and that their meanings can be discovered through dream interpretation has in recent times come under harsh attack from both scientific and hermeneutic-psychoanalytic circles. In a forceful response to these critiques, Rachel Blass demonstrates that while Freud and his followers have thus far failed to provide adequate justification for his dream theory, such justification may now be found through an alternate and legitimate—yet neglected—route, one that establishes both scientifically and philosophically the relationship between the self of the dreamer and that of the awake individual. The implications of this argument are both practical and theoretical: by providing sorely absent scientific and philosophical grounding to the very foundations of dream interpretation, the book clarifies and broadens the possibilities of dream interpretation within the clinical setting, and breaks new ground in the field of psychoanalytic epistemology and the philosophy of the human sciences.

This classic work by the Father of Psychoanalysis, is essential reading for any serious student of psychology. Dr. Freud covers the hidden meanings within our dreams, especially repressed sexual desires, the purpose of our conscious and unconscious minds, and the importance of dreams to our wellbeing. This title is, in essence, a comprehensive analysis of Freud's psychoanalytical studies, research and empirical observations. Freud begins by explaining the meaning of dreams through presentations of varied real examples. He then proceeds to explain the causes of dreams and their relation to past and on-going events in our lives, he analyses dream elements, and then explores specified topics such as sexual thoughts in dreams and humans desires and wishes.

The libido theory is one of the major areas of interest in psychoanalysis. Freud’s insights in this field have been widely applied and used by psychoanalysts, adult and child psychiatrists, psychologists, educationalists, experts on child development and social workers. They have thrown light on the normal and abnormal aspects of sexual development from childhood to adulthood and on the role played by sexual development in neurotic disturbances. Further they have made possible an understanding of the complex field of sexual perversions. Originally published in 1969, in this volume the reader will find twenty-four basic psychoanalytic concepts concerning the libido theory including oral erotism, anal erotism, phallic erotism, genital erotism, the Oedipus complex of the girl, the Oedipus complex of the boy, autoerotism, narcissism, masochism, sadism and bisexuality. As in the other volumes in this series, the historical development of each concept and references to Freud’s works are clearly given so that students and scholars can pursue any aspect of special interest.

After a hundred years of psychoanalysis, what has the psychoanalytic interpretation of dreams now become? Are what Simic calls "the films of our lives" still the royal road to the unconscious or do we now have a different concept both of dreams and of the unconscious? What is the meaning of dreams in the analytic dialogue? Do they still have a key role to play in clinical practice or not? These are just some of the questions that this book seeks to answer. Nowadays psychoanalysts and psychotherapists do not work so much on dreams as with dreams, preferring to emphasise their function of transformation and symbolic creation, rather than decipher their obscure messages. Dreaming is the way in which we give personal meaning to experience and expand our unconscious. As such, it is a necessary activity which, as Bion says, takes place both in sleep and in waking.

A translation of Sigmund Freud's "The Interpretation of Dreams" that is based on the original text published in November 1899.

Scientific Essay from the year 2009 in the subject Psychology - Consulting, Therapy, Harvard University, course: Psychoanalysis, language: English, abstract: Dreams are a fascinating topic and can be interpreted from multiple angles, which can result in a multitude of interpretations. Freud believed dreams were formed by an intrapsychic conflict created by the Id's unconscious wants pushing in to the conscious process, and the Ego defending against Id's assail. Dreams are believed by many to be a way of working through conflicts from waking life that may be too difficult to be rationalized by the conscious process. Another major element of dreams is to "trick" the Id into believing that its wants have been fulfilled, due to the fact that imagery within dreams through the "Manifest" or "Latent" content may present the want the Id desires, which may not be directly or easily attainable in waking life. Psychoanalysts view dreams and their interpretations as a significant part of therapy, for the reason that they may represent conflicts the mind is trying to make sense of, which may correlate with the tribulations currently being counseled by the analyst. Dream interpretations may present the object troubling the client to the analyst through their latent content, which may not have been noticed otherwise. These same interpretations may also aid the process of psychoanalysis and confirm the progression of analytic therapy, thus tell the psychotherapist s/he is on mark with their course of treatment. Dreams may also inform the analyst of certain personality or character traits due to a repeating pattern within dreams, or lack of certain patterns revealing more about the client, thus allowing the therapist to better shape the direction of analysis.