A psychoanalytic technique that interprets the symbolic content of dreams to uncover unconscious thoughts, desires, and conflicts. Dreams are viewed as the 'royal road to the unconscious' and a window into repressed material.
From Old English 'dream' originally meaning 'joy' or 'music,' later meaning 'sequence of images during sleep,' and Greek 'analysis' meaning 'breaking up.' Freud revolutionized dream interpretation in 1900 with 'The Interpretation of Dreams,' moving beyond superstition to scientific analysis.
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