Freud On Dreams

Throughout history, people of all ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds have questioned or attempted to deduce the meaning or significance of dreams. One of the most influential and important theories on dreams comes from the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. In section two of Freud’s essay written near the start of the 20th century, “On Dreams,” he discusses in detail his theory of the significance and meaning of dreams through “a new method [at the time] of psychological investigation which had done excellent service in the solution of phobias, obsessions, and delusions…under the name of ‘psycho-analysis’” (144) and several examples of dreams. He describes the procedure as requiring the patients “to direct his attention on to the