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4 Theories on Interpretation to Dreams | DreamApp
Denys Chumak

Denys Chumak

15 Sep 2023

4 Theories on Interpretation to Dreams | DreamApp

Carey Morewedge and Michael Norton, who are very committed dreams interpreters, did a big study on the dreams of more than 1,000 people from the United States, India, and South Korea.

They discovered something interesting: many college students in the study didn't think their dreams were just random brain activity. Instead, they believed what Freud (one of the brilliant dreams interpreters) believed - that dreams show us what we secretly want and desire.

But what's even more interesting is that how important people think their dreams are is greatly affected by their own opinions. Dreams with people we don't like are often remembered more, while dreams with friends or loved ones are seen as more important.

Let’s examine four theories of interpretation to dreams by psychologists.

Four Theories to Help you to do a Dream Analyse

Let's explore each of these theories to learn how they help unravel your dreams' mysteries.

1. Sigmund Freud

Dreams as a Route to the Subconscious:

Sigmund Freud wrote a book called "The Interpretation of Dreams" where he said that dreams are connected to fulfilling our wishes.

Dreams are what we wish for:

Freud thought that dreams have two parts: the manifest content, which is what you actually see and experience in the dream, and the latent content, which is the hidden desires or wishes of the dreamer. Simply put, Freud thought that the things you dream about reveal your deepest desires.

He talked about four parts of this process that he called "dream work":

  1. Condensation: Dreams have lots of different ideas and concepts in them. Information is made shorter and put into one idea or picture.

  2. Moving things around: This part of dreaming makes the hidden feelings in dreams harder to understand by mixing up the important and unimportant parts of the dream.

  3. Symbolisation: This operation also hides the hidden ideas in the dream by using objects that represent the hidden meaning of the dream.

  4. Freud said that in the last part of dreaming, the strange parts of the dream are rearranged to make it easier to understand. This creates what we call the dream's manifest content.

Also read: Dream Analysis: The Secret Truths Dreams Reveal

2. Carl Jung

Jung's theory of "Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious":

Carl Jung and Freud had some similarities, but Jung believed that dreams were more than just repressed wishes.

Dreams Explore the Underdeveloped Mind:

Jung said dreams show both personal and collective unconscious. He thought dreams make up for parts of the mind that aren't well-developed when we're awake.

Jung's Four Archetypes:

Jung said that archetypes like the anima, the shadow, the animus, and the persona are often shown as symbols or figures in dreams.

He thought that these symbols stand for feelings that the conscious mind hides. Freud and Jung had different ideas about dreams. Freud thought that certain symbols always meant specific hidden thoughts, but Jung believed that dreams are unique to each person. Jung thought that understanding dreams required knowing a lot about the person who had the dream.

Also read: How to Analyze a Dream Using Jungian Dream Analysis

3. Calvin S. Hall

Hall: Dreams and How Our Mind Works:

Calvin S. Hall studied lots of dream diaries from people and found common themes and patterns. He made a system to organise the different things we dream about into categories.

Dreams Have Patterns That Are Relevant to Waking Life:

Hall said that dreams are a way our brain thinks about our personal lives. To understand dreams, according to Hall's theory, you need to know the following things:

What the dreamer does in the dream. The things and shapes in the dream. The way the dreamer and the characters in the dream interact with each other. The place where the dream happened, how it changed, and what happened in the end.

The main aim of interpreting dreams is not to comprehend the dream itself, but to understand the person who had the dream. Hall's research showed that the characteristics people show when they are awake are also the same as the ones they show in their dreams.

4. G. William Domhoff

Domhoff believes that dreams are a way to show what happens in our daily lives.G. William Domhoff is a well-known person who studies dreams. He learned from Calvin Hall at the University of Miami.

Dreams Reflect Daily Life:

Dreams show what people think and worry about when they are awake, according to Domhoff's research on dreams. According to Domhoff, dreams happen because of how our brains work and the way we organise information. He says that dreams come from these thinking processes.

If you want to uncover the hidden meanings in your dreams, it's important to understand these four theories. Just so you know, figuring out what dreams mean isn't a precise science. The meaning of a dream can be different for each person. But if you look into these theories, you can learn important things about your own subconscious mind.

If you ever think about your weird and clear dreams, you can explore these ideas about understanding dreams discovered by interpreters of dreams. Imagine all the interesting things you could learn about your own thoughts and feelings! Dreams aren't just made-up stories; they're like doors that show you what's really going on inside your mind, and you can discover it.

Also read: Beginners Guide To Dream Interpretations & 8 Common Dream

Interpretation to Dreams

Dream interpretation has become more popular since the 1970s. In 1974, Ann Faraday wrote a book called "The Dream Game." It was a very important book because it taught people simple ways to understand their dreams. Anyone who wanted to learn about their dreams could use the techniques and ideas in the book. These days, people can find lots of books that can help them understand their dreams. These books have things like dream dictionaries, symbol guides, and tips to help figure out what their dreams mean.

To Sum Up

Basically, people usually understand their dreams based on what they already think about themselves, the world, and the people in their lives. Dreams may or may not have a deeper meaning, but one thing is for sure: a lot of people find dream interpretation interesting and enjoy doing it.

DreamApp is a website that can help you better understand your dreams. It offers a large collection of dream symbols and what they might imply. So, if you've ever wondered what your dreams are trying to tell you, DreamApp.io can assist you. It's like having a tour guide to help you discover hidden messages in your dreams and learn more about yourself.

FAQs##

What are dreams and why are they difficult to understand?

Dreams can be weird, exciting, or scary, but understanding what they mean is usually confusing. Their purpose is yet unknown, which makes interpreting dreams more difficult.

Are there any ideas that explain why dreams are important?

Yes, there are many theories that try to explain what dreams mean, but none of them are certain. Dreams interpreters made four important theories about understanding dreams.

How did Sigmund Freud understand dreams?

Freud thought dreams hid our deepest wants. He said that dreams are made up of two parts: manifest content (what we see) and latent content (hidden desires).

What did Carl Jung think about dreams?

Jung studied dreams to understand the collective unconscious, which is a place where universal symbols and archetypes are found. These symbols show hidden thoughts and feelings that are different for each person.

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16 Jan 2025

dream-about-militia-capturing-loved-ones
Being chased by murderer
Darkness
Family
Police
Trapped

Dream

A group of bad guys like a militia took a lot of males including my dad and brother. The males they took were on their knees and they started to kill them using machetes, directly into their necks. My mom and I were observing all these crazy act from a high building. I yelled at my mom to please let me go to the police. I knew I could make it to the police station to save my brother and dad. I was so frustrated because she didn’t let me go . She was afraid I might get captured and killed. So I went to the roof of the building to see if I could access the police station but the darkness of the night didn’t allow me to see forward. At the end they all got killed and the people that were on the top of the building didn’t allow me either to go to the police. They put traps or say things for Me not to go. So we all can survive .

16 Jan 2025

dream-about-parallel-worlds-and-falling
Abandoned home
Alien
Husband
Grandmother
Children
Stairs

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My dream started off, it seemed like I was in kind of like a parallel world, one of the houses that I grew up in, like a log cabin, and each room I would go in would be different than it was when I was little, and there were like more beds in there, like maybe more people or more siblings or something, and then I kind of jumped to being in a room with who I thought were my kids, I didn't see their faces, but they were being really rambunctious and like broke this plant, like they were very careless, and then I went to carry the plant down the stairs, and the stairs were the stairs that I got pushed down, yeah basically pushed down when I was a child, anyway, the dirt fell down the stairs, and then my grandmother, well we kind of jumped in the dream, and then my grandmother went sliding down the stairs, fell, and then I called for my husband to come out, and he was kind of being grumpy about it, but finally came and helped, and then like I saw her like slumped over at the bottom of the stairs, and then the dream jumped to me and my husband living in California in some random house on a hill, and then we watched some either like alien ship launch or rocket or something, while we were out there, we, I don't know, went to take the garbage out, there were, he had brought the mattress out to the side of the street, and then while we were talking, and this face would start changing, like into like people that I knew, or I don't know, like scarier faces, I guess, and what was face changed into some face, I don't remember recognizing, and then I just woke up to this feeling of, of, it's almost like grabbing my throat, someone grabbing my throat, or pinning me down, but it was like I felt this really big don't touch me in the throat area of peace, and then I woke up very panicked.

16 Jan 2025

Fear
Angry at mom
Friend
Car
Crying
Family

Dream

First it was animal crossing and I was being chased by scorpions so i when into villager’s house to hide, then sometimes i would lay on their bed and they would lay onto of me making me unable to leave the bed. But when I came out of their house the scorpion was still there. I tried a different strat of catching them carring a flashlight, it didn’t work. Then I started looking for them in the rain and they got smart and would bring another big with their claws, release it when I’m about to swing my net and I capture that instead then the scorpion stings me. Then the dream switches. I’m about to get tattoos one on my arm of a lion and the other one of me and my cat. But the one of my cat requires them to break every bone in my arm. I sketch of where I want the rainbow lion tattoo, only realizing I drew it too low on my arm. I go to the bathroom to clean it off. After I’m done I think of shower then my mom starts knocking on the door saying there’s no time. I go out and quickly grab my bag, my phone charger and my winter jacket. I get in the car only realizing have way that I forgot my glasses. Then on my jacket I see a case of my spare glasses, “Oh I’m fine I found my spare glasses, I forgot I left them in the car haha.” Then when I get to the destination it was my choir group having dinner at a place similar to Apple Bees. I sat in the middle of the booth next to my friends, and I thought to myself “Gosh I feel stinky, did I even put on deodorant? My hair looks greasy doesn’t it…” Then my mom and my sister were also there and my mom started talking for a toast. In the middle of it I just angrily say “Oh shut up!”. I get scolded by my dad of not treating mommy that way then I get upset and lock myself in the bathroom forgot I took a burrito with me instead of leaving it on the table. I take a bite of it then remember I’m not supposed to eat in bathrooms. So I wrapped it in its wrapping the best I could and shoved it in my pocket. Then my mom knocks on the door saying she’s sorry and we need to talk to my sister cuz she’s crying. I wash my face and I’m like “fineee”. Me and mom mom go into her room, she’s on her bed crying with her cat ontop of her. She turns around and says “This was supposed to be Lee’s special day… And you had to go around and ruin it.” I say nothing as my mom taking over the conversation, she tries to explain her actions, there was a little back and forth. Then my sister says “See that’s your problem!” Then the dream switches and I’m a deer specialist Bambi and other people that are always baby animals. We are behind some bushes and a scientist tells us to duck all the way to the floor and cover our ears. Then the ground opens and out comes out a giant dish then it has some square holes on the size of the cylinder under the dish. “Test one!” The scientist says. The dish rotates a little and a giant pink boom wave comes out of it, I could feel it on my chest and the tree would shake from the released pressure. I say “omg that’s so loud that’s scary.”, someone else says “Don’t stand up or you’ll be cut in half.” “o-oh” I say. “Test two and this one goes ove the whole country!”.. the same boom happens. And now we are free to go, they show us up how the dish works, then one of the workers tripped over wires and shut the whole thing down “Oop! My bad” he says then turn is on again. Then a bird crashes into the dish’s and doesn’t the boom again. “You might want to see a real scientist.” I say. Her “Oh I plan too”. Then she goes and meets a professor that looks like Einstein. “Let me introduce you to my daughter” they both say at the same time. Then they realize their daughters already know each other and are a mirror image of each other. The look at the giant coins that are the size of their bodies, they have the same last name, “oh that’s kinda creepy” he says. “Any way I was planning on analyzing this thing tho know what’s wrong” she says. “No no you got it all wrong, analyzing is when you already know that problem” the professor says. Then the dream switches and I’m on my bed, I think I woke up, it was still dark outside so I thought it was probably 5am. I looked at my hand and there was a tiny scorpion on my middle finger I scream, I proceed to slap my hand against the wall. I look at it again and it’s still there I scream again then I accidentally wake up.

16 Jan 2025

dream-about-weird-coworkers-children-and-violence
Being chased by murderer
Violence and death
Abandoned home
Sister
Airport
Baby

Dream

I had 3 interesting dreams last night. In the first one, I was with my old coworkers at my house. It all just felt weird to me, like I was the odd one out. One of them, Janiqua, who was my closest friend at the time, explained to me that she’s sorry because they have inside jokes and lore that I’m not aware of. The house was a mess and nobody helped me clean up. In the second one, I was in an airport. This random man was pushing a stroller with I think two kids, but I only remember one. He asked me for directions to his gate. We got to his gate and he was handling something on his phone so I watched the stroller. The child was really really small with kind of a big head. I assumed maybe she was born prematurely. His gate number wasn’t for an airplane though, it was for a boat. The man boarded first without the stroller and the baby. The platform was swaying badly and the stroller nearly fell out the door but I caught it. I was stressed and scared and kept thinking that this has to be the wrong gate because of the danger. In the third one, I was in a classroom with Jack, the UK guy that broke my heart, and Cam, his friend, along with random other guys. My sister Teri was there, on a table, acting strangely. She was on all fours and acting really sexual. Of course the guys enjoyed it, but I pulled her aside and asked “what’s wrong with you?”. The dream suddenly warped to seeing this character Neal Caffrey from a TV show I’ve been watching starting acting strangely as well. In the show, he’s never killed anyone. But in my dream, it was as if he had a breakdown. He started shooting people dead in front of me. He tried to hurt me but somehow I managed to get into a room and close and lock the door long enough to call 911. It was the first time I used a phone in a dream. It took forever to type in 911 because I kept messing up, but eventually I did it, to Neal”s dismay. I tell the officers “you need to come to my address, there’s a guy, Neal Caffrey, and he’s already killed multiple people, he’s trying to hurt me, get here quickly!” This is how I found out I was back at my own house even though the interior looked nothing like it. Neal runs outside and to the right down the street, in the east direction. I contemplate chasing after him to keep track of him, but I see the lights of the police coming down from north to my house, so I take one last glance at Caffrey and stay to tell approaching officers he’s on foot. I don’t remember anything else after that except being scared out of my mind.

16 Jan 2025

Argument
Apartment
Basketball
Party
Relationship
Guy

Dream

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