PSY CC614

INTERPRETATION
• To be meaningful to the patient, material that arises from free association,
dreams, slips of the tongue, symptoms, or transference must be
interpreted to the patient.
• Depending on the nature of the material, the analyst may interpret sexually
repressed material, unconscious ways the individual is defending against
repressed memories of traumatic or disturbing situations, or early child-
hood disturbances relating to unsatisfactory parenting.
• Analysts need to attend not only to the content of the interpretation but
also to the process of conveying it to the patient (Arlow, 1987). The
patient’s readiness to accept the material and incorporate it into his own
view of himself is a significant consideration.
INTERPRETATION
• Interpretation. A psychoanalytic counsellor or therapist will use the
processes described above – transference, dreams, free association
etc. – to generate material for interpretation.
• Through interpreting the
• meaning of dreams, memories and transference, the therapist is
attempting to help clients to understand the origins of their
problems, and thereby gain more control over them and more
freedom to behave differently.
2)The significance of dreams

• Freud regarded dreams as ‘the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious

activities of the mind’ (Freud, 1900).
• It follows therefore that in classical psychoanalysis dream interpretation is a
central component of therapy.
• Dream interpretation is important in all other psychodynamic models of therapy
and counselling too.
• The difference here is that whereas in the past psychoanalysts might devote long
periods of time in the analysis of just one dream, psychodynamic counsellors and
therapists focus on them only when clients request or understand such a focus.
• The point to be made here is that not all clients are regularly in touch with their
unconscious and dream life, although it’s probably true to saythat any client who
requests psychodynamic counselling is aware of the importance given to dreams
and to dream interpretation.
Dream Analysis
• Freud listened to and interpreted his patients’ dreams because he
believed that dreams represent the purest form of free association.
• Dream interpretation is a psychoanalytic technique based on the
assumption that dreams contain underlying, hidden meanings and
symbols that provide clues to unconscious thoughts and desires.
• For example, here is one of the best-known dreams in
psychoanalytic literature. !is dream was told to Freud by a 23-year-
old patient who was later named Wolf-Man because he had a
phobia of wolves and other animals (P. Buckley, 1989).
The Wolf Man

• In this case study, Freud treated a man named Sergei

Pankejeff, or the "Wolf Man".
• He had an intense fear of wolves as well as other animals and
insects.
• During their sessions, Pankejeff revealed a dream that Freud
would later use in his psychoanalysis.
• In this dream, Pankejeff was lying on his bed when suddenly,
the window revealed six or seven white wolves.
The Wolf Man
• Pankejeff described these wolves as having fox-like tails, with their
eyes fixed on him.
• They had their ears pricked like dogs when they are attending to
something.
• In great terror, evidently of being eaten up by the wolves, I
screamed and woke up. . . . I was 3, 4, or at most 5 years old at the
time.
• Freud would later tie this dream to childhood trauma and consider it
as a turning point in Pankejeff’s treatment.
• As Freud demonstrates, the psychoanalyst’s task is to look behind the
dream’s o"en bizarre disguises and symbols and decipher clues to
unconscious, repressed memories, thoughts, feelings, and conflicts (R.
Greenberg & Perlman, 1999).
Case study dreams
• A forty-year-old woman recounted two dreams she had before she came
for counselling.
• Both dreams convinced her that she needed to talk to someone.
• The counsellor encouraged her to recount these dreams in the present
tense, a technique which gives immediacy and vividness to the experiences
of the dream.
• I am going on a journey, on a train or a bus. It is a double-decker
vehicle.An old woman directs me on to the lower section. I have a small
child with me and I feel very responsible for her. We travel along and
eventually get out at a large area of wasteland. There are bars all around
this area, like a prison.
Case study dreams
• In the next dream I am due to see a therapist who is a well-known
person or celebrity.
• She lives in London, and I find myself there. I have a child with me in a
pram. I climb the steps to the therapist’s house, taking the pram with
me.
• The therapist is sitting in a room which is too big. It is uncomfortable,
too open and there are too many people around. The therapist is not
really interested; she gets up, then comes back with a book.
Meanwhile, the child has gone.
During the counselling this client was able to identify several
important key elements in both dreams
• COUNSELLOR: And the old woman and child in the dreams?
• CLIENT: I think they are two aspects of me; one is the old worn out
me, the other is the new beginning which would like to develop.
• COUNSELLOR: The journey . . . what you have just come through,your
mother’s death and the changes you have had to make.
CLIENT: Yes. And those I still have to make.
• COUNSELLOR: So the challenge is between staying with the old (and
with the wasteland) or getting onto the top deck, which might be
harder to get to but where you can see more?
• These two dreams are very rich in symbolism and meaning, and the
client was able to learn a great deal from them.
• Before she came for counselling there were many futile attempts to
enlist help from others, but none were successful.
• The client could see clearly that the therapist in the dream, for
example, represented her hopes and her frustration at not getting
help.
Dream Analysis
• Dream Analysis:
• Revealing the Unconscious As we saw in Chapter 4 (p. 168), Freud (1911)
believed that dreams represented a path way to the unconscious mind.
• Therefore, dream analysis is a tool used by some psychoanalysts to reveal
unconscious conflicts (Pesant & Zadra, 2004).
• Recall as well that dreams do not directly represent unconscious conflicts
but rather are comprised of symbols that reflect these underlying
unconscious impulses.
• It is the psychoanalyst’s job to decipher the true meaning or latent content
of these dreams and thereby reveal important unconscious issues.
• Recall that one of Emily’s therapists was very much interested in the
content of her dreams and would attempt to find the themes embedded
within them.
MANIFEST CONTENT
• What is manifest content?
• Manifest content is a concept related to the analysis of dreams.
It is part of the dream analysis theory first proposed by Sigmund
Freud, now considered the father of psychoanalysis.
• The manifest content of dreams, simply put, is any event or
experience that happens within a person's dream.
• This manifest content definition is generally contrasted
with latent content, which is the deeper meaning of a dream.
The relationship between the manifest and latent content of
dreams was something on which Freud and fellow
psychoanalyst Carl Jung disagreed.
Dream analysis
• Dream analysis was a technique Freud taught for uncovering the
unconscious material in a dream by interpreting the dream’s content.
Freud maintained that we must distinguish between
• the manifest content of a dream (what the dream actually contains)
and the latent content (what the elements of the dream represent).
He believed that the direct expression of desires and wishes would be
so disturbing that it would waken the dreamer
• Freud used dream analysis to transform the manifest content of dreams to
the more important latent content.
• The manifest content of a dream is the surface meaning or the conscious
description given by the dreamer, whereas the latent content refers to its
unconscious material.
• The basic assumption of Freud’s dream analysis is that nearly all dreams
are wish fulfillments.
• Some wishes are obvious and are expressed through the manifest content,
as when a person goes to sleep hungry and dreams of eating large
quantities of delicious food. Most wish fulfillments, however, are expressed
in the latent content and only dream interpretation can uncover that wish.
• Thus, although our dreams often appear to be ridiculous and
incomprehensible to us, to a psychoanalyst, a dream may contain
valuable clues to the unconscious.
• Freud called dreams “the royal road to the unconscious.” The
psychoanalyst interprets dreams by deciphering how the
unacceptable impulses and urges are transformed by the unconscious
into symbols in the dream.
DREAM
• Dreams provide a particular wealth of information because in sleep a person is
more relaxed than when awake, and resistance, so to speak, may be caught off
guard. The wishes and desires that are forbidden access in normal conscious
states have a chance to slip out. Thus, the manifest dream may be described as a
disguised fulfillment of repressed wishes.
• It is possible, Freud held, to gain some insight into the process that disguises the
unconscious dream wishes and converts them into the manifest dream. This
process iscalled dream work, and it has many elements.
• One important element is its use of symbols. Some symbols employed in dreams
are unique to the individual dreamer and can be understood only in terms of the
individual’s particular history and associations.
• Others are shared by many dreamers. In some instances, symbols have acquired
universal meanings; such universal symbols find expression in our myths, legends,
and fairytales, as well as in our dreams (see Bettelheim, 1977).
dreaming serves three functions
• According to Freud, dreaming serves three functions.
• First, it allows for wish fulfillment and the gratification of desires,
even if only in symbolic form.
• Second dreams provide a safety valve by allowing a person to release
unconscious tension by expressing his or her deepest desires,
although in disguised form.
• And, third,dreams are guardians of sleep. Even though a lot is going
on in dreams, such as the expression of wishes and desires, the
person remains asleep. Although tension is being released, no anxiety
is being aroused, and the person sleeps without interruption.
Dream analysis
• Dream analysis was a technique Freud taught for uncovering the
unconscious material in a dream by interpreting the dream’s content.
• Freud maintained that we must distinguish between the manifest
content of a dream (what the dream actually contains) and the latent
content (what the elements of the dream represent).

• He believed that the direct expression of desires and wishes would be

so disturbing that it would waken the dreamer.
Consider the following dreams and use your imagination to write two
possible interpretations of the possible latent content of these dreams.

• The dreamer is a 30-year-old woman who has suffered with

depression since losing her job three months ago.
• She has previously described a happy childhood raised by a single
mother.
• ‘I was walking through a forest and it was beginning to get dark.
• I felt quite anxious that I might get lost and that I might never find my
way out of the trees again.
• I was worried about how my mum might react if she never saw me
again.
dreamer is a 30-year-old woman
• It was not windy but all of the branches on the trees seemed to be
moving and the leaves started to fall on me.
• I felt so helpless. I was weighted down with the leaves and I thought
that I was never going to be free again.
• And then I heard a wolf howling in the distance and I knew that night
had fallen.
• I was terrified and I struggled to escape the leaves before the wolf
found me.
• I woke up tangled in my bedding and shaking with fear.’
The dreamer is a 30-year-old woman who has suffered with depression since losing
her job three months ago. She has previously described an unhappy childhoodraised
by a single father with a drug addiction .
• ‘I was walking through a forest and it was beginning to get dark.
• I felt quite anxious that I might get lost and that I might never find my way
out of the trees again.
• I was worried about how my mum might react if she never saw me again.
• It was not windy but all of the branches on the trees seemed to be moving
and the leaves started to fall on me.
• I felt so helpless. I was weighted down with the leaves and I thought that I
was never going to be free again.
• And then I heard a wolf howling in the distance and I knew that night had
fallen.
• I was terrified and I struggled to escape the leaves before the wolf found
me. I woke up tangled in my bedding and shaking with fear.’
manifest content VS latent content
• As you have probably noticed, these dreams are identical.
• But did you feel as though the manifest content might represent
different latent content for each dreamer?
• Perhaps the first case seemed to indicate the woman’s feelings of
loss about her job .
• and
• perhaps the second case seemed to indicate repressed trauma of
abuse?
examples
• These examples highlight the individual nature of dream interpretation.

• They also demonstrate how easy it can be for the therapist to draw unsubstantiated
conclusions based on the client history.

• It could be the case that a family friend abused the first client but the therapist is
unaware of the existence of this person.

• It could be the case that the second client has moved on from the trauma of her
childhood but feels overwhelmed by her recent unemployment.

• It is always difficult to draw any final interpretive conclusions so it is important to

collaborate fully with the client throughout the process.
Resistance
• Resistance occurs when a client behaves in such a way as to deny or avoid
certain topics or issues.
• A client may resist a psychoanalyst’s interpretation because it is too close
to the truth and therefore creates anxiety in the client. Clients may express
resistance in other ways as well.
• For example, clients may miss appointments or arrive late as away of
resisting the revealing nature of the therapy session.
• Clients may laugh or joke about certain topics that are actually quite
painful for them. These resistant behaviors provide an additional clue to
the psychoanalyst as to the unconscious conflicts affecting the client.
• A psychoanalyst may have interpreted Emily’s continued silence in her
initial therapy sessions as a form of resistance.
3) Resistance
• For most patients, working out transference and achieving insight into
their problems are long and difficult processes.
• One reason for the difficulty is that the client has so many defenses
against admitting repressed thoughts and feelings into consciousness.
!ese defenses lead to resistance.
• Resistance is characterized by the client’s reluctance to work through
or deal with feelings or to recognize un-conscious conflicts and
repressed thoughts.
Resistance may show up in many ways:

• Resistance may show up in many ways:

• Clients may cancel sessions or come late, argue continually, criticize
the analyst, or develop physical problems.
• For example, the patient named X constantly complained of severe
constipation.
• Freud said that Wolf-Man used constipation as an obvious sign that
he was resisting having to deal with his feelings.
RESISTANCE
• How would you expect Mr. N to respond to his therapist’s suggestion that
he was in competition with his father for the sexual attention of his
mother?
• Obviously, most clients would have great difficulty accept-ing such an
interpretation. Freud fully expected clients to display some resistance to
therapeutic efforts.
• Resistance involves largely unconscious defensive maneuvers intended to
hinder the progress of therapy.
• Why do clients try to resist the helping process? Because they don’t want
to face up to the painful, disturbing conflicts that they have buried in their
unconscious.
• Although they have sought help, they are reluctant to confront their real
problems.
RESISTANCE
• Patients typically go through periods in which they are uncooperative. They
show resistance, which is an unconsciously motivated attempt to subvert
or hinder the therapy.
• Why would people try to block their own therapy?
• Hidden conflicts are anxiety provoking, so the patient uses defense
mechanisms to reduce the anxiety.
• As Freud (1912/1964) put it, “Resistance accompanies the treatment at
every step; every single association, every act of the patient’s . . .represents
a compromise between the forces aiming at cure and those opposing it” (p.
140).
• The resistance can express itself in a variety of ways;the patient might
become inattentive, claim to forget dreams, skip therapy sessions, or argue
with the directions suggested by the therapist.
4) FREE ASSOCIATION
• Free Association:Tell Me What’s on Your Mind Free association
involves freely talking about a subject with- out censoring any
thoughts.
• The client is fully awake and is asked to talk about a specific topic. Any
and all thoughts are stated. The client says whatever comes to his or
her mind.
• According to Freud (1949), we routinely censor or hide unpleasant or
socially inappropriate desires and thoughts.
• Through free association, these unconscious urges are revealed. The
psychoanalyst makes very few comments during free association,
instead focusing on important themes or issues that may be revealed
• Freud encouraged patients to relax, sit back, or lie down on his now-
famous couch and engage in something called
• free association.

• Free association is a technique that encourages clients to talk about

any thoughts or images that enter their heads; the assumption is that
this kind of free-flowing, uncensored talkingwill provide clues to
unconscious material.
Freedom of speech

• Freedom of speech
• Throughout therapy, clients are encouraged to say whatever enters
their heads without any attempt at self-censorship
• No matter how silly, illogical, stupid, shocking or trivial it may appear
Freedom of speech means that the client is able to share fully with
the therapist.
• Freedom of speech results in revealing Freudian slips and blocks.
Freudian slip

• Freudian slip
• Free expression without self-censorship will sometimes lead to slips of the
tongue
• These slips can reveal deeper emotions being repressed by the client
• Freudian slips provide a glimpse into the conflicts located in the
unconscious.
• Freudian Slips
• A Freudian slip is a term used to describe a moment where a person
says or does something they didn’t intend, that is a reflection of
some inner conflict of the unconscious mind. The psychoanalytic
perspective believes these are important moments where a patient
might reveal something their unconscious mind is repressing from
their conscious mind.
Blocks

• Blocks
• Things not said by the client can indicate areas of repressed trauma
• Since the client has free rein to say anything, refusal to discuss certain
topics or problems expressing certain emotions could reveal a
significant repression.Blocks provide a glimpse into the conflicts
located in the unconscious
 Rat Man: Free Association
• Freud encouraged patients to relax, sit back, or lie down on his now-
famous couch and engage in something called free association.
• Free association is a technique that encourages clients to talk about
any thoughts or images that enter their heads; the assumption is
that this kind of free-flowing, uncensored talking will provide clues
to unconscious material.
RAT MAN
• For example, here is how Freud described a session with one of his
most famous patients, a 29-year-old lawyer later named the Rat Man
because of his obsession that rats would destroy his father and lover.
• Freud writes, “The next day I made him [Rat Man]pledge himself to
submit to the one and only condition of the treatment—namely, to
say everything that came into his head even if it was unpleasant to
him, or seemed unimportant or irrelevant or senseless.
• I then gave him leave to start his communications with any subject he
pleased” (Freud, 1909/1949, p. 297; italics in the original).Freud is
actually telling Rat Man to free-associate.
RAT MAN
• By this means, Freud uncovered a number of Rat Man’srepressed
memories, such as how Rat Man, as a child,would get into rages and
bite people, just like a rat
• Free association was one of Freud’s important methodological
discoveries. Psychoanalysts still use this tech- nique today to probe a
client’s unconscious thoughts,desires, and conflicts (Corey, 2009).
• Through the years, many ideas from Freud’s classical psychoanalysis
have been used to develop a kind of therapy called the
psychodynamic approach.
• Although it shares some of its concepts with classical psychoanalysis,
the psychodynamic approach has the therapist taking a more
directive role that reduces the number of sessions but seems equally
effective.
• One example of this newer approach is short-term dynamic
psychotherapy.
Modern psychoanalysis
• Modern psychoanalysis, often referred to as psychodynamic therapy,
or short-term dynamic therapy, is evident in many different forms.
Such therapies are consistent with the views of Freud and the
psychoanalytic approach.
• These newer therapy approaches continue to rely on the therapist’s
interpretations of the client’s feelings and behavior,and identifying
instances of transference and resistance.
• However, these therapies tend to focus less on the client’s past than
traditional psychoanalysis does.
• Current problems and the nature of interpersonal relationships are
seen as more important in improving the client’s behavior.
• The therapist also plays a more direct role, rapidly interviewing and
questioning the client to uncover unconscious issues and themes in a
shorter time.
• Then the therapist and client agree to focus on a limited set of
problems that are seen as causing the client the most trouble. Hence,
modern forms of psychoanalysis tend to be more short term, lasting
no more than a few months, and appear to be effective in improving
clients’ symptoms.
Catharsis
• Some or all of these techniques may lead the client to catharsis.
Catharsis is the process of releasing intense, often unconscious,
emotions in a therapeutic setting.