In part one of Dreaming we looked at the stages of sleep, and possible explanations for why we dream. Although no one is entirely sure, dreams do appear to be necessary for both our physical and emotional wellbeing. This chapter introduces four of the main dream theorists that have been instrumental in the way dreams and dreaming are perceived from a psychological point of view, as well as paving the path to their interpretation.

CARL JUNG

In the beginning, Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1960) studied under Sigmund Freud. Eventually, their differing views on dreams caused a major rift and each went their separate ways.

Like Freud, Jung believed in the existence of the unconscious. However, he didn't see the unconscious as animalistic, instinctual, and sexual; he saw it as more spiritual. Dreams were a way of communicating and acquainting ourselves with the unconscious. Dreams were not attempts to conceal our true feelings from the waking mind, but rather they were a window to our unconscious. They served to guide the waking self to achieve wholeness.  Dreams offered a solution to a problem we are facing in our waking life.

Jung viewed the ego as one's sense of self and how we portray ourselves to the world.  Part of Jung's theory was that all things can be viewed as paired opposites (i.e. good/evil, male/female, or love/hate).  And thus working in opposition to the ego, is the "counter ego" or what he referred to as the shadow.  The shadow represents rejected aspects of yourself that you do not wish to acknowledge. It is considered an aspect of yourself which is somewhat more primitive, uncultured, and awkward. 

Jungian Dream Interpretation

Since dreams were a way of communicating with the unconscious, Jung felt that the imageries in dreams were a way of revealing something about ourselves, our relationships with others, and situations in our waking life. Dreams guided our personal growth and helped to achieve our potential.  He also believed that the dream's manifest content is just as significant and revealing as the latent content.  Often discussing what is currently going on in your life, helps to interpret and unlock the cryptic and bizarre images of your dreams. Jung's method of dream interpretation is placed more confidently on the dreamer. He believed that we all possess the necessary tools to interpret our own dreams. There is no one correct way to interpret a dream. The meaning of your dreams is a personal judgment and is up to you on how to interpret them. Whatever interpretation felt right to you is most significant and more important than what someone else thinks or believes. 

Carl Jung's Archetypes

To further help you in uncovering the meaning of your dreams, Jung specially noted certain symbols in dreams that possess the same universal meaning. While dreams are personal, our personal experiences often touch on universal themes. These symbols were believed to occur in every culture throughout time. Jung identified seven such symbols in what is referred to as the major archetypal characters:

1. The Persona is the image you present to the world in your waking life. It is your public mask. In the dream world, the persona is represented by the self.  In the dreamscape, the Self may or may not resemble you physically or may or may not behave as your would. However, you know that this "person" in your dream is you.

2. The Shadow is the rejected and repressed aspects of your Self. It is the part of yourself that you do not want the world to see because it is ugly or unappealing. It symbolizes weakness, fear, or anger. In dreams, this figure is represented by a stalker, murderer, a bully, pursuer, a frightening figure, or even a close friend or relative.  Their appearance often makes you angry or leaves you scared. 

3. The Anima or Animus is the female and male aspects of your Self. Everyone possesses both feminine and masculine qualities. In dreams, the anima may appear as a highly feminized figure or a hyper masculine figure in the case of the animus. Or you may dream that you find yourself dressed in women's clothing if you are male or you suddenly grow a beard, if you are female. These imageries serve as a reminder that you must learn to acknowledge or express your masculine (be more assertive) or feminine side (be more emotional). 

4. The Divine Child is your true self in its purest form. It not only symbolizes your innocence, your sense of vulnerability, and your helplessness, but it represents your aspirations and full potential. You are open to all possibilities. In the dreamscape, this figure is represented by a baby or young child.  

5. The Wise Old Man is the helper in your dreams. Represented by a teacher, father or some other unknown authority figure, they serve to offer guidance and words of wisdom. They serve to guide you into the right direction.

6. The Great Mother is the nurturer. They may appear in your dreams as your own mother, grandmother, or other nurturing figure and provide you with reassurance. Negatively, they may be depicted as a witch or old bag lady in which case they can be associated with seduction, dominance and death.  This juxtaposition is rooted in the belief by some experts that the real mother who is the giver of life is also at the same time jealous of our growth away from her. 

7. The Trickster as the name implies, plays jokes to keep you from taking yourself too seriously. He may find himself in your dream when you overreach or misjudge a situation or if you are uncertain about a decision or where you want to go in life.  The trickster often makes your feel uncomfortable or embarrassed. He may take on subtle forms, sometimes even changing its shape.  

SIGMUND FREUD

Considered the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) revolutionized the study of dreams with his work "The Interpretation Of Dreams".  Freud began to analyze dreams in order to understand aspects of personality as they relate to pathology.  He believed that nothing we did occurred by chance; every action and thought is motivated by our unconscious at some level. In order to live in a civilized society, we tend to hold back or urges and repress our urges and impulses. However, these urges and impulses must be released in some way and have a way of coming to the surface in disguised forms. 

One way these urges and impulses are released is through our dreams. Freud understood the symbolic nature of dreams and believed they were a direct connection to our unconscious, what Freud refers to as the id. The id is centred around pleasure, desire, unchecked urges and wish fulfilment. During our waking hours, the desires of the id are suppressed by the superego, which acts as a censor for the id.  The superego enforces the moral codes for the ego and blocks unacceptable impulses of the id. Because your guard is down during the dream state, your unconscious has the opportunity to act out and express the hidden desires of the id.  

Freudian Dream Tools

Utilizing the technique of "free association", Freud believed that we can chip through the dream's manifest content and reveal the underlying significance of our dreams and its latent content. 

To further help in interpreting the cryptic images of our dreams, Freud classified the images into the following five processes:

1. Displacement
This occurs when the desire for one thing or person is symbolized by something or someone else. 

2. Projection
This happens when the dreamer propels their own desires and wants onto another person.

3. Symbolization
This is characterized when your repressed urges or suppressed desired or acted out metaphorically.

4. Condensation
This is the process in which the dreamer hides their feelings or urges by contracting it or underplaying it into a brief dream image or event. The meaning of this dream imagery may not be apparent or obvious.

5. Rationalization
This is seen as the final stage of dream work where the dreaming mind organizes an incoherent dream into one that is more comprehensible and logical; also known as secondary revision.

Freud was particularly preoccupied with sexual content in dreams. Sex was found to be the root cause of what was happening in our dreams.  He believed that every long slender or elongated objects (i.e.. knives, cigars) represent the phallus, while any cavity or receptacle (bowls, caves, tunnels) denotes the female genitalia.

Freud's 5 Stages Of Personality Development

Freud believed that there were 5 stages in the formation of your personality:

1. Oral/Dependency
This stage takes place from birth to age 2, where the child explores the world using their mouth. . If needs are not satisfied during this stage, one goes through life trying to meet them. Smoking, eating and drinking are seen as oral fixations. Recurring dreams and the feeling of incompleteness or unmet needs are common themes.

2. Anal/ Potty Training
In this second stage, the child learns to control their bodily functions. If not handled properly or if child is traumatized at this stage, then one might become anal retentive, controlling, or rigid.  They can develop obsessive compulsive behaviours. Dreams of being out of control or trying to keep things in order are common.

3. Phallic Stage
At the of of 3 to 5, the child becomes aware of male and female. Personality is fully developed by this stage. This stage is also classified by the Oedipus and Electra Complexes. The Oedipus represents a male child's love for his mother and the fear/jealousy towards his father. The Electra is the female version where the female child has anger toward her mother and exhibits "penis envy".

4. Latency Period
Little new development is observable during this stage. 

5. Genital
Starting from age 12 to the peak of puberty, this stage is classified by reawakening of sexual interest. 
As previously mentioned, Freud believed that the motivating force of a dream is wish fulfilment.  Issues of power, lack of control, or unsatisfied love may manifest in dreams as a way of satisfying these needs.  Thoughts that get repressed during the day may also find a way into your dream as an attempt to being fulfilled. 

Freud believed that every imagery and symbol that appears in a dream have a sexual connotation.  For example, anxiety dreams were seen as a sign of repressed sexual impulses.

Critique: There are many critics on Freud's take on dreams.  Freud lived in a sexually repressed Victorian era. His preoccupation with sexual imagery may therefore have been a product of the times, the culture or his own relationship/conflict with sex.

ALFRED ADLER

Alfred Adler (1870 -1937) believed that dreams were an important vehicle to mastering control over our waking lives. They were problem solving devices.  Dreams need to be brought to conscious light and interpreted so that we can better understand and solve our problems. It is important to learn from our dreams and incorporate them into our waking life. Because of Adler's belief that dreams were correlated with the problems in our daily life, he further went on to say that the more dreams we have, then the more problems we are likely to have. And thus the less dreams we have, then the less problems we have and more psychologically healthy we are.

Unlike Freud, Adler believed that control, power and motivation were the driving force behind behaviour, not sexual impulses.  Furthermore, he did not think that our actions and behaviour are ruled by our unconscious, but rather the strive for perfection and need for control is what cause us to do the things we do. In fact, Adler did not believe that the conscious and unconscious functioned against each other. We acted the same way whether we are awake or sleeping. 

Adler's view of dreams was that they were an open pathway toward our true thoughts, emotions and actions. In our dreams, we are able to clearly see our aggressive impulses and desires. Adler saw dreams as a way of overcompensating for the shortcomings in our waking life. For example, if a person is unable to stand up to their boss, then he or she may feel more comfortable (and safe) to lash out their anger at the boss in a dream. Dreams offer some sort of satisfaction that may be more socially acceptable.

FRITZ PERLS

Fritz Perls (1893-1970) was the founder of Gestalt therapy which seek to fill our emotional voids so that we can become a unified whole. Perls believed that dreams contain the rejected, disowned parts of the Self. Every character and every object in a dream represents an aspect of ourselves. Thus, he rejected the notion that dream imagery was part of a universal symbolic language. Each dream is unique to the individual who dreams it.
Perls believed that in order to discover what aspect of yourself is being disowned, it is important to retell your dream in the present tense. Additionally, it is equally important to verbalize how each and every component in your dream felt, even inanimate objects. It may help to even act out the dream and play different roles. Start a dialogue with the dream object and express how you feel toward each other.  By taking on a different role within your dream, you may then be able to acknowledge and realize feelings that you may have overlooked or buried.