Psychoanalysis and Dreams


Book Description

Psychoanalysis and Dreams explores some of the cornerstones of Antonino Ferro’s theoretical model but also attempts to extend the dreamlike boundaries of the model. Based on Bion’s theory of alpha function and the analytic field, Ferro has developed his own original theorization of transformations in dreams and of work in the analytic session as a waking dream. Clearly highlighted in the book is Ferro’s theory that transformation in dreams is the activity which is constantly carried out in the mind of the analyst, who nullifies the reality-status of the patient’s communication and considers the patient’s narrative as a dream which must be constructed in real time in the encounter between the two minds at work. At the centre of Ferro's theoretical proposal stands the transition from a psychoanalysis of contents to a psychoanalysis which develops the apparatus for thinking, based on the conception of an unconscious in a perennial state of construction and transformation, which must be dreamed, and which continuously expands as it is dreamed. Psychoanalysis and Dreams is written for practicing and training psychoanalysts, psychotherapists and psychiatrists and will be helpful in everyday psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic work.




The Meaning of the Dream in Psychoanalysis


Book Description

The Freudian claim that dreams are meaningful and that their meanings can be discovered through dream interpretation has in recent times come under harsh attack from both scientific and hermeneutic-psychoanalytic circles. In a forceful response to these critiques, Rachel Blass demonstrates that while Freud and his followers have thus far failed to provide adequate justification for his dream theory, such justification may now be found through an alternate and legitimate—yet neglected—route, one that establishes both scientifically and philosophically the relationship between the self of the dreamer and that of the awake individual. The implications of this argument are both practical and theoretical: by providing sorely absent scientific and philosophical grounding to the very foundations of dream interpretation, the book clarifies and broadens the possibilities of dream interpretation within the clinical setting, and breaks new ground in the field of psychoanalytic epistemology and the philosophy of the human sciences.




Dream Psychology


Book Description

This classic work by the Father of Psychoanalysis, is essential reading for any serious student of psychology. Dr. Freud covers the hidden meanings within our dreams, especially repressed sexual desires, the purpose of our conscious and unconscious minds, and the importance of dreams to our wellbeing. This title is, in essence, a comprehensive analysis of Freud's psychoanalytical studies, research and empirical observations. Freud begins by explaining the meaning of dreams through presentations of varied real examples. He then proceeds to explain the causes of dreams and their relation to past and on-going events in our lives, he analyses dream elements, and then explores specified topics such as sexual thoughts in dreams and humans desires and wishes.




Basic Psychoanalytic Concepts on the Libido Theory


Book Description

The libido theory is one of the major areas of interest in psychoanalysis. Freud’s insights in this field have been widely applied and used by psychoanalysts, adult and child psychiatrists, psychologists, educationalists, experts on child development and social workers. They have thrown light on the normal and abnormal aspects of sexual development from childhood to adulthood and on the role played by sexual development in neurotic disturbances. Further they have made possible an understanding of the complex field of sexual perversions. Originally published in 1969, in this volume the reader will find twenty-four basic psychoanalytic concepts concerning the libido theory including oral erotism, anal erotism, phallic erotism, genital erotism, the Oedipus complex of the girl, the Oedipus complex of the boy, autoerotism, narcissism, masochism, sadism and bisexuality. As in the other volumes in this series, the historical development of each concept and references to Freud’s works are clearly given so that students and scholars can pursue any aspect of special interest.




The Significance of Dreams


Book Description

This book looks at dreams from a twenty-first century perspective. It takes its inspiration from Freud's insights, but pursues psychoanalytic interest into both neuroscience and the modern psychoanalytic consulting room. The book looks at laboratory research on dreaming alongside the modern clinical use of dreams and links together clinical and empirical research, integrating classical ideas with the plurality of psychoanalytic theoretical constructs available to modern researchers. Psychoanalysts writing about dreams have traditionally represented the cutting edge of clinical and theoretical development, and this book is no exception. Many of the contributions, as well as the epistemological position taken by the writers, represent a kind of radical openness to new ways of thinking about the clinical situation and about theory. In line with the ambition of the editors, this volume represents an integration of theories and disciplines, and a scientific context for modern psychoanalysis. The link between clinical research and extraclinical research via the royal road of dreaming is a theme that runs through all the contributions.




Dream Analysis


Book Description




This Art of Psychoanalysis


Book Description

Winner of the 2010 Haskell Norman Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Psychoanalysis! This Art of Psychoanalysis offers a unique perspective on psychoanalysis that features a new way of conceptualizing the role of dreaming in human psychology.







The Unconscious


Book Description

Weaving together state-of-the-art research, theory, and clinical insights, this book provides a new understanding of the unconscious and its centrality in human functioning. The authors review heuristics, implicit memory, implicit learning, attribution theory, implicit motivation, automaticity, affective versus cognitive salience, embodied cognition, and clinical theories of unconscious functioning. They integrate this work with cognitive neuroscience views of the mind to create an empirically supported model of the unconscious. Arguing that widely used psychotherapies--including both psychodynamic and cognitive approaches--have not kept pace with current science, the book identifies promising directions for clinical practice. Winner--American Board and Academy of Psychoanalysis Book Prize (Theory)




Dreams, Neuroscience, and Psychoanalysis


Book Description

Dreams, Neuroscience, and Psychoanalysis sets out to give a scientific consistency to the question of time and find out how time determines brain functioning. Neurological investigations into dreams and sleep since the mid-20th century have challenged our scientific conception of living beings. On this basis, Kéramat Movallali reviews the foundations of modern neurophysiology in the light of other trends in this field that have been neglected by the cognitive sciences, trends that seem to be increasingly confirmed by recent research. The author begins by giving a historical view of fundamental questions such as the nature of the living being according to discoveries in ethology as well as in other research, especially that which is based on the theory of the reflex. It becomes clear in the process that these findings are consistent with the question of time as it has been considered in some major contemporary philosophies. This is then extended to the domain of dreams and sleep, as phenomena that are said to be elucidated by the question of time. The question is then raised: can dreaming be considered as a drive? Based on the Freudian discovery of the unconscious and Lacan’s teachings, Movallali seeks to provide a better understanding of the drives in general and dreams in particular. He explores neuroscience in terms of its development as well as its discoveries in the function of dreaming as an altered mode of consciousness. The challenge of confronting psychoanalysis with neuroscience forces us to go beyond their division and opposition. Psychoanalysis cannot overlook what has now become a worldwide scientific approach. Neuroscience, just like the cognitive sciences, will be further advanced by acknowledging the desiring dimension of humanity, which is at the very heart of its being as essentially related to the question of time. It is precisely this dimension that is at the core of psychoanalytic practice. Dreams, Neuroscience, and Psychoanalysis will appeal to psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists as well as neuroscientists, psychologists, ethologists, philosophers and advanced students studying across these fields.