Freud, Psychoanalytic Theory, and

Dreams

David Van Nuys, Ph.D.

Sonoma State University

1
 Relevance Today

• Fashionable to attack Freud

– Outdated
– Unscientific
– Sexist
• Nevertheless, all major subsequent theories have
been based on his revolutionary, pioneering work
• He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature
for his seminal book, The Interpretation of Dreams
which appeared in 1900.
• Looking back in 1930, he said of The Interpretation
of Dreams, that it contained “the most valuable of all
the discoveries it has been my good fortune to
make. Insight such as this falls to one’s lot but once
in a lifetime.”
• “I must affirm that dreams really have a meaning
and that a scientific procedure for interpreting them
is possible.”

2
 Freud’s Life
• Born 1865 in Freiberg, Moravia to Jacob, his wool-
mcerchant father. Mother was Jacob’s third wife.
• In 1860, family moved to Vienna, where Freud grew
up and lived until 1938.
• Vienna exciting place of opportunity and optimism.
In 1867, Jews granted political rights and accepted
into society.
• Freud assimilated, identifying as a German.
• Embraced humanistic values of political liberalism
and affirmed universal goals of rationality and
human freedom.
• About the time he was 15, liberal political
atmosphere evaporated and anti-Semitism became
virulent. Freud’s hopes for assimilation shattered,
replaced by disappointment & bitterness.
• Graduated from University of Vienna medical school
with strong interest in research but quickly married
and realized only private practice would provide
needed financial support.
• Published well received scholarly papers on
neurological disorders.
• Outbreak of WW II forced him to flee to London,
where he died a year later in 1939.

3
 Freud’s theory is complex because:

• He kept modifying it as he went along

• He never presented a comprehensive summary of
his final views
• His theory is more comprehensive than must since it
has a number of aspects. For example, he gives us:
– A theory of motivation
– A theory of thinking (which includes dreaming,
etc.)
– A theory of personality development
(psychosexual theory)
– A theory of mental structures (id, ego, superego)
– A theory of psychopathology and symptom
formation
– A theory of psychotherapy

4
 Two Fundamental Hypotheses

• 1. Principle of psychic determinism

– Nothing in nature happens by chance
– Nothing in the mind happens by chance
• 2. The unconscious
– Conscious rationality is the exception rather
than the rule in psychic processes
– Evidence for this is inferred from:
• Psychopathology - symptom formation
• Parapraxes, i.e. slips of the tongue, of the
pen, etc.
• Dreams
• Free association
• Hypnosis
– These two hypotheses interlock

5
 The Drives
• Link with biology
– Freud hoped to link up his thoeries with biological knowledge
– We’re still not able to do that
– Freud used the term “instincts” in this regard but the term is
misleading in English
– Drive = Tension or excitation looking for release, i.e. need
--> motor activity --> gratification
• Psychic energy & cathexis
– Freud postulates a psychic energy analogous to physical
energy
– Amount of psychic energy directed towards memories,
thoughts, and fantasies of an object is called “cathexis”
• e.g. child’s mother is an object highly cathected with
psychic energy
– Two forms of drive energy (like ying/yang)
• Libido - sexual/erotic
• Thanatos - aggressive/destructive
• Freud assumes these are always fused but not
necessarily in the same amounts
– Cruelty may have ucs. erotic component
– Acts of love may have ucs. aggressive component

6
 Psychosexual Development

• Stages
– Oral stage - First 1 1/2 years
• Flow of libido presumed to be in the mouth, lips,
tongue
– Anal stage - next 1 1/2 years
– Phallic stage - from 3 to 6 years
– Latency
– Mature adult genital stage
• Fixation & Regression
– Freud’s analogy about the troops
– If a new pleasure proves unsatisfactory, the individual
reverts to one that is tried and true
• e.g. small child reverting to thumb sucking upon birth
of a sibling
• Autoeroticism
– When object not available, such as breast, fingers may
substitute
– Frees child from domination of the environment but also
may be precursor to withdrawal from reality
– Aggressive drive too may reveal itself in the libidinal zones

7
 The Psychic Apparatus

• Topographical system
– Conscious
– Preconscious
– Unconscious
• Structural theory
– Id
– Ego - mediates between id & environment - tests for
what’s real
– Superego (develops around 5 or 6 years of age)
• Ego Functions
– Motor control
– Perception
– Memory
– Affects
– Thinking (delay of gratification)
– Ego develops in response to maturation and
environment
– Importance of identification in ego development

8
 Dream Formation

• Dream springs from unacceptable, unconscious

wishes
– Sexual
– Aggressive
– Egoistic
• Latent vs. Manifest content
• Censorship
• The Dream Work
– Condensation
– Displacement
– Representability
– Secondary revision

9
 Function of The Dream

• To protect sleep
• Wish fulfillment

10
 Primary and Secondary Process
Thinking

• Secondary process thinking

– Rational
– Moral (influenced by superego)
– Logical
– Cause & effect
– Temporal
– Abstract
– Ability to delay gratification
– Verbal

11
 Primary/Secondary Cont.
• Primary Process Thinking (“Baby Thinking”)
– Tends toward immediate gratification
– Amoral
– Non-temporal
– Non-causal
– Concrete
– Visual
– Absence of negatives, conditionals, or other qualifiers
– Opposites and contradictions may coexist
– Representation by allusion, analogy, or object parts
(pars pro toto)
– Displacement - substitution of one idea or image by
another one which associatively connected with it
– Condensation - representation of several ideas or
images by a single word or image
– Symbolic - meanings relatively constant from patient to
patient
• Pair of sisters = breasts
• Journey or absence = death

12
 My Position on Freud & Dreams

• Agree
– Day residue
– Free association
– Primary process thinking
• Disagree
– Sex/aggression as sole drives
– Censorship
– Wish fulfillment
• I Favor Growth Model
– Expression of health (a la Taylor)
– Creativity
– Precognition
– Confirmation of growth
– Guidance and Advice
– Rehearsal for action
– Spiritual dimension

13
 Freud vs. Jung Dream Theories

• Freud • Jung
– View of Unconscious – View of Unconscious
• Dangerous • Potentially
• Personal dangerous force
unconscious of nature
• Negative id • Personal &
drives of Collective
sex/aggression unconscious
– Function of dream • Bright shadow
• Wish fulfillment – Function of dream
– Logic of dream • Compensation
• Primary process – Logic of dream
& censorship • Language of
– Analytic tool metaphor
• Free association – Analytic tool
• Amplification

14