Dream Analysis According to the Early Psychologists

Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung may have pioneered modern dream analysis, but they weren't the only ones to study the subject. Other psychologists adapted Freud's and Jung's theories; some even developed their own. Today's dream interpretation has been heavily influenced by Alfred Adler, Medard Boss, and Frederic Perls.

The work of Alfred Adler (1870-1937)
Dream analysis was a large part of the work of Freud and Jung, but a smaller part of Adler's theories. Like Jung, Adler believed that dreams can help us solve problems. But he took this idea further, stating that people who didn't have many dreams didn't have many problems. So the number of dreams a person had could actually reflect their psychological health.

Unlike Freud or Jung, Adler didn't believe that dreams have hidden meanings; the meanings would have to be clear in order to help the person solve their problems. Therefore, dream interpretation would be relatively easy.

The work of Medard Boss (1903-1990)
Boss also didn't believe that dream images are symbolic. According to him, dreams contain no secrets or hidden significance; they're simply reflections of the waking life of the dreamer. They do have meaning - to the dreamer - but that meaning is not always obvious right away. Instead, it may evolve and become clear only with the passage of time and the appearance of other dreams. This meant that dream analysis sometimes needed to be cumulative, covering many dreams rather than just one or two.

Boss was one of the founders of existential theory, which taught that we create our own reality with the choices we make. He believed that one of the functions of dreams was to help us make those choices.

The work of Frederic Perls (1893-1970)
Perls, the originator of Gestalt theory, did not support Jung's idea of the collective unconscious and its influence on dreams. Instead, he believed that dreams come only from the individual. Their images reflect an aspect, or part, of the dreamer; for example, a dream about a teacher might actually mean the dreamer was connecting with the part of themselves that helps them learn. Once the different parts of the dream (and the dreamer) were discovered, they would then be assembled to form a whole - in other words, a Gestalt.

Perls developed some very different ways to do dream analysis. In one, the dreamer uses present tense - for example, "I am in a hallway" rather than "I was in a hallway." This technique is fairly common today, but another one isn't - the idea of using first person when talking about the images. In other words, if the dream contained a butterfly the dreamer would say "I am a butterfly" and then go on to describe what they did as the butterfly. What Perls was saying was that, similar to Boss's idea, the image is not a separate entity; it's simply another part of the person.

Perls also supported the "acting out" of dreams. Here, the person would not just describe the dream; they would also play the roles of the different images that appeared in the dream.

Effects of early theories on current dream analysis
Many theories of the early psychologists have been used in modern dream interpretation. Depending on whose work you read - or believe - you may think that dreams contain hidden meanings or should just be taken literally. You may use dreams to help you understand yourself better or find solutions to your problems. The people and things you dream about may simply be aspects of yourself. Or you may even follow the theories of the ancient physicians and use your dreams to help you identify an illness or learn how to treat it.

Our interest in dream analysis has endured for many thousands of years and shows no sign of abating. Whatever their purpose, and no matter how we use them, dreams will probably continue to be a source of fascination, confusion, and understanding for a long time to come.