Description
Dreams are assumed to have an intelligible “cognitive structure” which can be understood within “the dreamer’s actual emotional situation at the time.” An “objectively critical approach to interpretation” is illustrated on the basis of 4 dreams by a 34-year-old father of 4 children, his associations and material from some other sessions. The authors neither of whom was the patient’s analyst, first intuitively form a hypothesis, then elaborate it, and finally check it against further data. The interpretations are arrived at in discussions between the authors and with students. Stereotype interpretations based on general Freudian concepts are avoided. A theoretical basis for the new approach is presented.
