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Jungian Approach to Dream Analysis
Overview
This lecture compares Jungian dream analysis with classical psychoanalytic approaches, particularly those of Freud and Klein. Drawing on clinical examples, it explores how their differing theories of the unconscious, symbolism and the aims of analysis give rise to markedly different ways of understanding and working with dreams.
Live online with Martin Schmidt — Thursday, 8:00–9:30 pm Singapore time.
The lecture is designed for psychotherapists, counsellors, psychologists, psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, arts therapists, clinical social workers and trainees. It will also be relevant to healthcare and pastoral-care professionals, as well as coaches and organisational consultants whose work is psychologically informed.
It may also appeal to academics, students, artists, writers and other curious-minded participants interested in dreams, symbolism, the unconscious and the ways in which psychological meaning emerges.
No prior knowledge of Jungian psychology is required.
About the speaker
Martin Schmidt
Jungian training analyst and supervisor with over 30 years' experience. Former Regional Organiser for Central Europe of the International Association for Analytical Psychology. Published many papers in different languages and several book chapters, and has lectured in over 20 countries. Winner of the Fordham Prize for best clinical paper in the Journal of Analytical Psychology (Psychic Skin, 2013) and nominated for the Gradiva Award in New York (2014). In private practice in South London.
Programme
The lecture
Lecture
Jungian Approach to Dream Analysis
This lecture compares a Jungian approach to dream analysis with classical psychoanalytic approaches, particularly those of Freud and Klein. Drawing on clinical examples, it explores how their differing theories of the unconscious, symbolism and the aims of analysis lead to markedly different ways of working with dreams.
For Freud, the dream is understood primarily in relation to unconscious wishes, conflict and repression. Jung, by contrast, develops a broader conception of the dream as a spontaneous expression of the psyche, one that may compensate for, illuminate or transform conscious attitudes. His approach therefore opens onto concepts that have no equivalent in classical Freudian theory, including the dynamic Self, the collective unconscious, the psychoid and synchronicity. Freud's reductive method is set alongside Jung's synthetic and prospective approach, raising the question of what is gained, and what may be lost, when a dream is interpreted in each way.
The lecture also considers differences in analytic technique, including the use of the couch, the analyst's attitude towards dream material, and Jung's development of active imagination as a way of engaging directly with unconscious imagery.
Finally, it turns to later developments in both Jungian and psychoanalytic thought that have expanded our understanding of dream work. Contributions from James Hillman, Wilfred Bion and Thomas Ogden are examined for the ways in which they challenge, develop or complement the classical traditions.
Through these theoretical and clinical comparisons, the lecture asks a fundamental question: what are we doing when we interpret a dream? And what might happen if, rather than reducing the dream to something already known, we allow it to become a source of new psychological meaning?
Lecture
Jungian Approach to Dream Analysis
This lecture compares a Jungian approach to dream analysis with classical psychoanalytic approaches, particularly those of Freud and Klein. Drawing on clinical examples, it explores how their differing theories of the unconscious, symbolism and the aims of analysis lead to markedly different ways of working with dreams.
For Freud, the dream is understood primarily in relation to unconscious wishes, conflict and repression. Jung, by contrast, develops a broader conception of the dream as a spontaneous expression of the psyche, one that may compensate for, illuminate or transform conscious attitudes. His approach therefore opens onto concepts that have no equivalent in classical Freudian theory, including the dynamic Self, the collective unconscious, the psychoid and synchronicity. Freud's reductive method is set alongside Jung's synthetic and prospective approach, raising the question of what is gained, and what may be lost, when a dream is interpreted in each way.
The lecture also considers differences in analytic technique, including the use of the couch, the analyst's attitude towards dream material, and Jung's development of active imagination as a way of engaging directly with unconscious imagery.
Finally, it turns to later developments in both Jungian and psychoanalytic thought that have expanded our understanding of dream work. Contributions from James Hillman, Wilfred Bion and Thomas Ogden are examined for the ways in which they challenge, develop or complement the classical traditions.
Through these theoretical and clinical comparisons, the lecture asks a fundamental question: what are we doing when we interpret a dream? And what might happen if, rather than reducing the dream to something already known, we allow it to become a source of new psychological meaning?
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