A brief comparison of Adler, Freud, and Jung

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The theories of Freud, Adler, and Jung are considered classic theories because of theirhistorical significance and comprehensiveness (Nystul, M. S., 2006 p. 202). These men have had a vast influence on the art of counseling (Nystul, M. S., 2006). These psychologists differed on their beliefs of dreams as in many other beliefs. Freud and Jung believed that dreams had ameaning; Alder believed that dreams told how a person was living.

Freud's Dream BeliefsFreud wrote that dreams contained both manifest and latent content. The manifest content is the material that the dreamer is aware in relating the details of the dream. The manifest content is a disguise for the true meaning of the dream, or the latent content, which is comprised of unconscious sexual and aggressive wishes and fantasies unacceptable to the conscious ego. These unconscious wishes and fantasies find expression in dreams. Consequently, Freud believed that the meaning of dreams is almost always wish fulfillment.

To discover the meaning of dreams, Freud used a process of free association, asking his patients to free associate to various dream symbols. Invariably, he found symbols to be related to sexual or aggressive themes (Gardner, M, 1995, p.11).

Jung's Dream BeliefsJung differed from Freud in that he believed that dreams can reveal other themes besides aggression and sexuality. According to Jung, dreams can also reveal archetypal material, creativity, and a drive toward individuation. Jung viewed the manifest content of dreams as not being disguises but being metaphors (Van De Castle, 1994). The psyche's libido is a more general form of energy which pulls us toward individuation, a process of developing greater insight in one's inner self. Dreams reveal material from either the personal unconscious or the collective unconscious, the source of archetypes. Jung's approach to dream interpretation involved amplification, the process of asking the...