Describe and explain the key issue using ideas and concepts from the Psychodynamic approach. Clearly identify the key issue you are describing.
[12 marks]

The key issue is do dreams actually have a meaning? This is a very debatable issue as some people may tell you their dreams in detail and with depth but some may claim that they don’t dream at all. Dreams apparently occur in the REM and that everyone has several dreams per night even if they cant actually remember them.
Some people argue that dreams have meaning and that we need psychoanalysis to help us unlock the correct interpretation of the dream and truly understand the meaning of certain things that happen in them. However, others will say that there is a biological explanation of why we dream and that in fact they don’t have a specific meaning. Freud would say that our behavior is determined by our unconscious thoughts and desires and one way in which the unconscious tries to become conscious is through dreams. In contrast we can’t cope with our unconscious desires so to protect ourselves we use symbols to represent other things in our dreams.
The manifest content is what we remember about our dream and latent content is what it actually means. A study that shows this is Freud’s study of Little Hans showed that his dreaming of a Plummer actually meant that he had resolved his Oedipus complex. Conversely, a study of people who went to bed thirsty did not dream of water so this would be going against wish