Dream Interpretation: The Royal Road to the Unconscious or Random Firing of Neurons Psi Beta Speaker

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Dream Interpretation The Royal Road to the
Unconscious or Random Firing of Neurons?Psi
Beta Speaker PresentationCollin County Community
CollegeNovember 10, 2004
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The Biology of Dreaming

• Neurobiologists and neuropsychiatrists tend to
  think of dreaming sleep as shaped by the
  activation of brain neurons. This activation
  synthesis model, proposed by Hobson and McCarley
  in 1977, states that dreams are reactions to
  random nervous system stimuli which the brain
  interprets as bizarre images and other sensory
  hallucinations. The activated brain-mind does
  its best to attribute meaning to the internally
  generated signals of the brain.

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The Biology of Dreaming

• Crick and Mitchison (1983) believe that the
  brains neural memory systems are easily
  overloaded and that REM eliminates cognitive
  debris. Dreams are a mechanism for the nervous
  system to clear the brain of unnecessary, even
  harmful memories. Remembered dreams are nothing
  more than an accidental by-product of this REM
  function.

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The Biology of Dreaming

• David Maurice, Ph.D. (1998), suggests that humans
  experience REM sleep to supply oxygen to the
  cornea of the eye. The aqueous humor, the clear
  watery liquid in the chamber just behind the
  cornea, needs to be stirred to bring oxygen to
  the cornea. Without REM, our corneas would
  starve and suffocate while we are asleep with our
  eyes closed.

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The Psychoanalytic Response

• A scientist can develop an understanding of the
  physiological function of dreaming and still not
  know anything about the meaning of dreams. One
  is a physiological phenomenon and the other is a
  psychological phenomenon. One hundred years of
  psychoanalytic research and experience show that
  there is much that can be learned about the
  mental and emotional lives of people by dream
  interpretation and other psychological methods.

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The Two Phenomena are Not Mutually Exclusive

• REM is associated with many physiological
  processes changes in breathing, blood flow to
  the brain, and changes in brain activity.
  Discovering yet another proposed physiological
  purpose of REM sleep (oxygenation of the cornea)
  does not invalidate the principles of
  psychoanalysis.

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The Theoretical Controversy Continues

• Harvard Medical School psychiatrist Ramon
  Greenberg and colleagues state Neither the
  classical psychoanalytic approach nor the
  physiologic attacks on it have been able to
  explain fully the purpose or function of
  dreaming.
• The controversy about the purpose of dreams
  continues

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The Freudian View

• The dream represents an ongoing wish, along with
  the previous days activities. The dream may
  portray wishes that have been with us since early
  childhood. Every dream is partially motivated by
  a childhood wish. Dreams are derived from
  instinctual needs and personal experiences.
• Dreams occur in a state of ego collapse
  when the demands of the ID and Superego converge
  upon the EGO. If we have been too reliant on
  defense mechanisms in our waking life, the
  internal conflict continues to build and causes a
  dream to take place. The dream prevents us from
  building up intolerable states of psychological
  tension in waking life.

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Freuds View

• Freud did not believe dream interpretation was
  possible by the dreamer dreams could only be
  interpreted by a trained psychoanalyst. A
  primary method for gathering information about
  the meaning of the dream was through free
  association.

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A Connection between the Physiological and the
Psychoanalytic

• Allen Braun, M.D. has discovered that regions of
  the brain which control emotion and motivation
  are highly active during REM sleep.
• Regions of the brain central to
  self-discipline, delay of gratification, and
  impulse control, are relatively inactive. Thus,
  the prefrontal cortex is unable to carry out its
  waking task of censoring material.
• Is it possible the person who is the most
  inhibited when awake would have the least active
  pre-frontal cortex when asleep? This would fit
  the model of psychoanalysis, which suggests that
  if you repress during the day, the material will
  most likely come oozing out during dreams.

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Carl Jungs Theory

• Jung believed in the psychological significance
  of dreams. Like Freud, he viewed dreams as an
  important gateway to the unknown parts of the
  self. The dream was a direct message from the
  personal unconscious.

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Jungian Analysis

• Unlike Freud, Jung believed the dreamer could
  interpret his/her own dreams using a process
  involving the analysis of dreams over time. He
  suggested taking similar dreams from the dream
  journal and merging the dream images together to
  form a larger dream.
• In addition, Jung encouraged the dreamer to
  brainstorm all the different symbolic
  associations for each aspect of the dream.
• Another stage of Jungian dream analysis is
  active imagination. The dreamer mentally evokes
  a character from the dream and asks it questions.
  

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Fritz Perls Theory

• According to Fritz Perls, dreams are seen as
  being projections of parts of oneself.
  Essentially, as the creator of the dream, you are
  everything in the dream.
• Dream analysis involves much dialogue and
  acting out. The dreamer is encouraged to act out
  the dream from the perspective of each animate
  and inanimate element.
• All dream symbolism is unique in that it
  comes from the dreamer, and only the dreamer can
  truly interpret it.

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Dream Symbolism

• According to Jung, universal symbols are those
  rooted to the experience of all humankind and
  are, therefore, common to everyone.
• Jung considered the archetypes of the collective
  unconscious to be universal symbols.

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Common Universal Symbols

• House the self
• Weather what one is going through in life
• Water the emotions, the unconscious, the source
  of all life. Type of water and movement of water
  give clues about what is happening in the
  feelings and the unconscious.
• Time of day the time of ones life or ones
  state of being. (Dawn youth, optimism dusk
  withdrawal, approaching death)

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Dream Symbols Continued

• People known to you a particular quality of
  yourself
• Strangers qualities of yourself that you do not
  own
• Animals compulsive or habitual ways of thinking
  and acting.
• Death change
• Black horse refusal to exercise free will
• Vehicles information about your physical body

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Dream Symbols Continued

• Shoes your mental or spiritual foundation
• Clothing ones outer expression
• Naked you have opened up in your waking life or
  let the walls down. Represents a desire to
  communicate more deeply with others
• Flying exercising free choice
• Running away and finding your feet and legs are
  moving, but you are not moving forward trying
  to do too many things at once and never seeming
  to get ahead.
• Moving at will being decisive, goal-oriented

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Silly Dream Themes

• Alligator treachery
• Animals your own physical characteristics,
  primitive desires, and sexual nature the untamed
  and uncivilized aspects of self.
• Crocodile hidden danger
• Dog skill that you have ignored or forgotten.
  Also might mean intuition, loyalty fidelity.
• Eel issues with commitment.

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Dream Symbol Dictionaries Are Useless

• Even universal meaning and generalized
  definitions are of minimal value in relation to
  self-understanding and personal growth.
• Only through discovering ones own translations
  of symbols and images can the individual effect
  change or insight.
• Symbols change meaning according to the context
  in which they appear and the personal experiences
  of the dreamer

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Personal Symbols

• Personal symbols are formed in the unconscious
  and are tailored to reflect the persons life
  experience and emotion. The unconscious is able
  to create a symbol to illustrate a particular
  inner message.
• Understanding personal symbols is one of the
  primary goals of dream work.

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Helpful Hints for Better Dream Recall

• Before going to sleep
• Expect to remember your dreams
• Review past dreams
• Get ready to record your dreams
• Be prepared to stay awake to make a record
• Review the previous day back to morning
• Upon waking
• Follow your dream backwards
• Try and remember all the dreams you can
• Think of events that may have triggered dreams
• Write it down

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Dream Recall

• Daily Attitudes
• Value each dream
• Accept all dreams
• Approach recall as a skill
• Expect to recall dreams during the day

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Procedures for Recall

• Keep a pad of paper and pen beside your bed.
  Date the paper. When you awaken, write something
  down.
• When you go to bed, relax your body and review
  the day in reverse.
• As you are getting close to falling asleep,
  repeat over and over, When I wake up, I will
  remember my dream.
• When you wake in the morning, dont move. Relax
  and let your mind drift close to the dream.
• Once you begin to recall the dream, start
  writing.

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Dream Interpretation

• What were you doing in the dream?
• What are the major contrasts and similarities in
  the dream and how do they relate?
• What are the major symbols and relationships
  between these symbols?
• What are the issues, conflicts, and unresolved
  situations in the dream?
• What relationship does this dream or the symbols
  in the dream, have to do with any other dream?

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Interpretation Continued

• How are you acting in the dream?
• What are the different feelings in this dream?
• What are the major actions in this dream?
• Who or what is the adversary in this dream?
• What is helping in this dream?
• What would I like to avoid in this dream?
• What actions might this dream be suggesting?
• What does this dream want from me?
• Why did I need this dream?

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How to begin your own interpretation

• What are the unusual or personally significant
  images in your dreams?
• What are the primary emotions in your dreams?
• What are the conflicts and/or unresolved issues
  in the dream?
• What is currently happening in your conscious,
  waking life?
• Are there any associations between your conscious
  life and your dreams? Explore.
• Do any common patterns or themes exist in the
  dreams that could tie them together? What are
  they?
• What have you learned about yourself from this
  exercise in dream interpretation?

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Completing the Plot another method of
interpretation

• The dreamer rewrites the ending or completes the
  plot of his/her dream in a waking state.
  Learning to take control and create positive
  options in your dream life enhances your ability
  to do that in your waking life.

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Lucid Dreaming

• When you feel yourself awakening, try to focus
  your thoughts on the last dream you were having.
  Recall details, feeling, experiences. Then spend
  ten to fifteen minutes reading, meditating, or
  doing something that requires full wakefulness.
  Then while lying in bed, say to yourself the
  next time I dream, I want to recognize that Im
  dreaming. Visualize your body lying in bed,
  sleeping. See yourself back in your last dream,
  but know that you are dreaming.
• Once in the lucid dream, recognize that you
  control the dream.

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Prophetic Dreams

• Seventy years ago, Harvard psychologists Murray
  and Wheeler tested the prophetic power of dreams.
  They invited the public to report dreams about
  the kidnapping of Charles Lindberghs baby.
• 1300 people responded 5 envisioned that the
  child was dead
• 4 of the 1300 anticipated the location of the
  dead child.

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Prophecy?

• In 1990s tabloid psychics missed the big events
  of Oklahoma, 9/11. 65 of police departments
  never use psychics. Of those who had hired
  psychics, none found the information useful.
• We tend to notice, interpret, and recall events
  that confirm our expectations. Weird
  coincidences capture our attention and are
  available in memory. All the nonevents are
  unnoticed and not remembered.

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Barbara Lusk Professor, Psychology Collin County
Community College District Blusk_at_ccccd.edu (972)
548-6809