Dream Interpretation and Psychology

Starting the end of the 1800s (or the early 1900s) dream interpretation was not limited to getting the divine messages or prophecy from the person's dreams. Dream interpretation became studied in relation to the science of the mind. Four key persons contributed to the study of dreams in relation to psychology. These are Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Calvin Hall and Ann Faraday.

In the 1900s, when Carl Jung published his book "The Interpretation of Dreams," this broke the path for dream interpretation in becoming a method in explaining a person's unconscious mental processes. In his theory, Freud explained that dreams were ways to fulfill a person's wishes. To him, these are ways for the subconscious to address any conflict.

Later, Carl Jung followed the theories of Freud. However, Carl Jung believed that the dreams encompassed a larger portion of the person's unconscious mind. To Jung, the archetypes anima, animus and shadow all manifest themselves in a person's dream. Because of this, he cautioned people from interpreting dreams without understanding the person.

To Calvin Hall, dreams are part of the thinking process. To him, dreams are just visual manifestations of a person's thoughts as he or she sleeps.

In the 70s, Ann Faraday, along with others published books on dream interpretation. Through forming groups of individuals, dream interpretation is possible through do-it-yourself books. It was also explained that some dreams may be manifestations of a person's fears or as a refection of things that the person thought about in the last couple of days.

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