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History of Dream Analysis

Use of dreams is not new. Use of symbolism is not new. Essentially since the dawn of humankind and across every culture of the world people have looked to the symbolic language of their dreams for guidance. Yet during the middle and latter parts of the twentieth century the practice of using dream guidance fell out of favor, particularly in the Western world - except in psychoanalytic circles. Now, in modern times interest in dream interpretation has been revived. The following is a brief review of modern dream interpretation models.

Bases its techniques on condensation, displacement, representation, symbolism, and secondary revision. Underlying these mechanisms is Freud's contention that dreams are in disguised forms. Condensation is the concept that the dream is a compressed version of all the dream-thoughts that arose about a particular theme. Displacement refers to differences in the manifest dream content from the dream-thoughts. Representation is the concept that dreams are predominantly visual and sensorial. Symbolism refers to images found more in folklore and myths than in dreams, although consideration of dream symbolism is necessary, as well as some consideration of dreamer's associations. Secondary revision refers to the mind's "secondary" efforts to temper dream contents when a dream escapes the censoring mind and arouses distressing feelings (Freud, 1955, The Interpretation of Dreams).

Jung said, "I have no theory about dreams…and I am not sure that my way of handling dreams deserves the name of a 'method.' … On the other hand, I know that if we meditate on a dream sufficiently long and thoroughly something almost always comes of it" (Jung, 1954, The Practice Of Psychotherapy).

Jungian dream interpretation steps as presented by Mattoon are: (1) State the dream text in terms of a structure (setting, plot, and lysis [solution or result]), (2) Establish the context of the dream, (3) Bring appropriate attitudes to the dream interpretation (nothing can be assumed about the meanings or the images, consider the differences in personality of the dreamer and the interpreter, and realize that the dream is not a disguise but a set of psychic facts), (4) Interpret the dream images as either objective or subjective, (5) Explore dream for compensatory functions, (6) Consider the influence of the dreamer's conscious situation on the dream. Finally, verify the interpretation by confirming with the dreamer, and by comparing to subsequent dreams and subsequent events. (Mattoon, 1984, Understanding Dreams)

Reject or minimize the role of the unconscious and treat dreams as an extension of waking life. Boss, who is best known of the existentialists for focusing on dreams, looked on dreams in their phenomenal state. (Boss, 1958, The Analysis Of Dreams)

Takes a social base for interpreting dreams. Bonime emphasizes feelings as probably the most significant expression of any individual's personality (Bonime, 1962, The Clinical Use Of Dreams). Ullman's uses the group as the social setting. His group method is composed of four stages: (1) Elicit the dream and clarify the dream, (2) The group makes the dream its own, (3) The dreamer's response and working toward closure, and (4) The Dreamer's Review of the Dream. (Ullman, 1993, Dreams, The Dreamer, and Society. In G. Delaney (Ed.), New Directions In Dream Interpretation)

Derives its format from Perls' original technique of assuming that every element of the dream represents a part of the dreamer's personality. The different parts of the dream represent fragmented parts of the dreamer's personality. To become a unified person, these fragmented parts of the personality that appear in dreams must be re-owned. (Perls, 1969, Gestalt Therapy Verbatim)

Has four major stages: (1) Recount the dream, (2) Identify recent situations connected to the dream, (3) Experience peak moments of the dream, and (4) Be the dream experiencing peak moments, earlier life situation, and recent life situation (Mahrer, 1989, Dreamwork In Psychotherapy And Self-Change)

Their dream interpretation is a four-dimensional approach: Psychological, spiritual, historical, and theological. The approach includes thirty primary techniques, most of which seem to be stand-alone techniques. For example, their technique, Title, Theme, Affect, Question (TTAQ) is used as a method by itself. The four TTAQ steps are: (1) Title the dream, (2) Determine the major theme of the dream, (3) Identify the dominant affect experienced during the dream, and (4) Determine what question the dream is trying to help the dreamer become conscious of. (Savary, Berne, & Williams, 1984, Dreams and Spiritual Growth: A Christian Approach To Dreamwork)

The goal of this method is for the dreamer to interpret the dream from the dreamer's own knowledge, opinions and beliefs with as few interpretations or explanations from the interviewer as possible. (Delaney, 1993, The Dream Interview. In G. Delaney, Ed., New Directions In Dream Interpretation.)

A three-stage method: (1) Exploration, which encompasses a client-centered approach designed to help the client think of feelings and meanings to the dream, (2) Insight where the therapist and client collaborate in trying to find dream meanings, and (3) Action where the therapist helps the client determine what the dream is saying about what the client can do differently in his/her life. (Hill, 1996, Working With Dreams In Psychotherapy)