ABSTRACT
The meaning of dreams has been identified almost entirely with psychoanalysis. Hardly any other form of treatment (including the therapies derived from psychoanalysis) pay special attention to dreams. But even psychoanalysis, which in its earliest years laid heavy stress on dream analysis, seems to have put it aside. More recently, there has been a mild revival of interest in dreams in psychoanalysis (e.g., Fliess, 1953). Before considering the potential use of dreams in psychotherapy, let us look briefly at the history of the use of dreams in psychoanalysis. We may then be better able to understand the early, deep, and widespread interest in dreams as the “royal road to the unconscious,” the later falling off of interest, and the more recent revival of interest. Several catch-phrases can serve as landmarks in this brief review. The first I have already mentioned—”the royal road to the unconscious.” The second is “ego psychology.” And last is “the widening scope of psychoanalysis.” Each of these phrases encapsulates a piece of the history of our field. Each can also help us to map the shifting pattern of interest in the dream.
