Lecture Three

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In December of 1908, the Viennese physician Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) received an intriguing invitation from the American psychologist G. Stanley Hall (1844-1924), inviting him to visit Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and deliver a series of lectures describing his novel views about abnormal psychology. The invitation was intriguing partly because it came from one of the senior and most influential figures in American psychology. ( Freud, 1925)

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In Freud's third lecture, he corrects his previous statement that the first idea a patient produces is always the repressed thought. He explains that the patient's resistance to revealing the repressed thought often leads to the production of surrogate ideas, which are related to the repressed thought in some way but are not identical to it.
Freud compares the surrogate idea to witticism, which is an indirect expression of a thought that would be considered unacceptable or dangerous to express directly. He also compares the surrogate idea to an ore, which must be refined in order to reveal its valuable content.

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In this lecture, Freud emphasizes the importance of dreams in psychoanalysis. He argues that dreams are the royal road to the unconscious and that anyone who wants to understand the psychoses must first understand dreams.
In this lecture, Freud notes that dreams are often dismissed as meaningless or unimportant. However, he argues that this is a mistake. Dreams are actually quite meaningful, but their meaning is often disguised. The disguise is the result of the work of the censor, a part of the mind that prevents our repressed thoughts and feelings from reaching consciousness
Freud then goes on to explain how to interpret dreams. The key to dream interpretation is to free associate from each element of the dream. Free association is a technique in which the dreamer is free to associate with each element of the dream. Free association is a technique in which the dreamer says whatever comes to mind, without judgement or censorship. By free-associating from each element of the dream, the dreamer can uncover the latent dream thoughts. By free-associating from each element of the dream, the dreamer can uncover latent dream thoughts, which are the unconscious thoughts and feelings that underlie the dream.

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Freud also discusses the process of dream work, which is the process by which the latent dream thoughts are disguised into the manifest dream. Two main mechanisms of dream work are:
Condensation
Combining multiple thoughts and feelings into a single dream element.
Displacement

Shifting the emphasis away from the most important aspects of the dream and onto less important facts.

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Freud states that dream work is similar to the process of symptom formation. In both cases, the unconscious is trying to disguise its contents from the conscious mind. However, by understanding dream work, we can gain access to the unconscious and learn more about our repressed thoughts and feelings.

Freud discusses some of the other important insights that psychoanalysis has gained from the study of dreams:
Early childhood experiences

Help shape our adult personalities. Our childhood selves continue to exist within us, even though we may have repressed many of our childhood desires and impulses.

Symbolism in dreams.

The unconscious often uses symbols to represent sexual and other repressed material. This symbolism can be both individual and universal, and Freud suggests that it may be the same symbolism that is used in myths and legends.

Anxiety dreams.

Complex and require interpretation.
can be a way for the ego to relieve itself of repressed wishes that have become too strong.
They contradict the idea that dreams are wish fulfillment.

Everyday mental phenomena.

Slips of the tongue and bungling of acts
The above are not simply accidents, but they have meaning and can be used to uncover repressed thoughts and feelings.

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The psychoanalytic technique is a powerful tool for uncovering repressed thoughts and feelings. It is based on the following principles:

Free association

The patient is encouraged to say whatever comes to mind, without judgment or censorship

Dream Interpretation

Symbolic expressions of unconscious desires and conflicts

Analysis of slips of the tongue and other everyday mental phenomena

Can also be used to uncover repressed material

Transference

The patient's relationship with the therapist can be used to explore the patient's unconscious conflicts.

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Freud also states in this lecture that psychoanalysis is not only a therapeutic tool but also a valuable research tool in which we can learn more about the normal and abnormal mind.

Freud cautions that many people are resistant to the idea of the unconscious mind and that this resistance is strongest in people who are struggling to repress unconscious thoughts and feelings.