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  #71  
Old February 6th, 2005, 09:20 PM
George Neeson George Neeson is offline
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Default Re: Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 3, Chapt. XXI & XXII (Fiction, Role of the Unconscious)

Thanks Henry. The three quotes above, particularly "the not understood" one, help to clarify this idea for me.
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  #72  
Old February 10th, 2005, 11:12 AM
Henry Stein Henry Stein is offline
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Default Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 3, Chapt. XXXIII & XXIV (Theory & Interpretation of Dreams)

On February 14th, we will begin a discussion of The Collected Clinical Works of Alfred Adler, Volume 3, Chapters XXIII & XXIV. The following chapter summaries were prepared by Manu Jaaskelainen.

Ch. XXIII, Response (to A. Maeder) (1913), is a polemical discussion of Adler's dream theory. There was a conflict between Adler and Maeder concerning priorities. Alphonse Maeder had published on dream theory, arguing for a teleological interpretation of dreams. He was a member of the Jung-group. Adler was dissatisfied with Maeder's publications because he did not mention Adler, or refer to the papers published by Adler. What Adler wants to demonstrate with this paper, is that Maeder, as a matter of fact, copied the central ideas in his dream theory from Adler. This explains the detailed citations from Adler's and Maeder's writings that form the gist of argument in this paper. As it stands, the paper is at the same time a very good aphoristic introduction to Adler's theory of dreams. In this paper, Adler's citations from his own works demonstrates in detail how dreams evolve from the guiding idea, or the life-line of the individual. Dreams are functional in providing compensation for inferiority-feelings. At the same time, dreams have an intentional function that provide an attempt at solution of the problems of the individual, and the dreams provide us with forewarning when we are about to try something that we really should avoid. "The dream is a sketchy reflection of psychological attitudes and it always presents only attempts at thinking ahead." (see CCWAA; Vol. 1).

Ch. XXIV, Dreams and Dream Interpretation (1913) is a more systematic account of Adler's dream theory. The chapter begins with historical references that go back to antiquity - a common method of argumentation in Adler's days, because the knowledge of the classical world was very wide-spread among all people who had some education. Then Adler presents a question: Is it really not possible for the human mind to look into the future, within certain constraints, when the individual himself has a hand in shaping that future. Does conjecturing, which pompously is also called "intuition", not play a far greater role in our lives than uninformed critics assume? Adler's answer is, of course: Yes, it is. Yes, it plays. This is not about dreams in itself, but these statements prepare us to the next step: expectations, desires, and fears reveal themselves in dreams (p. 185). All this is, of course, not conscious from the point of view of the individual. Adler also discusses some bad interpretations provided by the practitioners, and warns for a "cheap gift of prophesy". Like character, dreams are arranged in accordance with the ultimate purpose of the dreamer. Adler ends the chapter with a case-study that illustrates his most important arguments.

To order your copy of Volume 3, go to http://go.ourworld.nu/hstein/cwaa-v3.htm.
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  #73  
Old February 13th, 2005, 12:19 PM
Manu Jaaskelainen Manu Jaaskelainen is offline
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Default Re: Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 3, Chapt. XXXIII & XXIV (Theory & Interpretation of Dre

Some additional information on Alphonse Maeder (1882-1971): he was a physician and psychiatrist at Burghölzli, and joined Jung's group after the break between Freud and Jung. See The Neurotic Character, CCWAA, Vol. 1, endnote n on page 233. Maeder's memoirs have been widely used as a source in the studies on Adler, but I find that the book has a limited value because the personal relationship were strained between these two men. Thus, Maeder's mentions of Adler are tendentious. Maeder was for a time chairman of the Zürich Psychoanalytic Society, and developed a method of brief analysis and was associated with the Oxford Movement. See McGuire, William (ed.), The Freud/Jung Letters, Harvard University Press, 1988, footnote 3 on page 45. It is remarkable that Jung's theory of dreams has a strongly finalistic and teleological emphasis, just as Adler's theory, although Adler's theory is much more mundane and avoids the mythical components that are so characteristic of Jung.
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  #74  
Old February 13th, 2005, 03:41 PM
Henry Stein Henry Stein is offline
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Default Re: Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 3, Chapt. XXXIII & XXIV (Theory & Interpretation of Dreams)

Adler mentions Maeder briefly in The Neurotic Character (Volume 1, CCWAA, page 266).
"The dream, so my observations tell me, is always urging for safeguards and accordingly its function is to think ahead. That it accomplishes this by using the facts of experience may easily be understood, and this is how in the dream’s contents and thoughts one finds the accumulated results of experience which led Freud to his heuristically valuable but otherwise imperfect and one-sided theory of dreams. Among other, later dream theories only that of Maedern has come close to my point of view."
The endnotes to Voume 1 also contain a brief entry on Maeder:
Maeder, Alphonse

Physician, psychiatrist, member of the staff at Burghölzli with among others C. G. Jung, whose student he was from 1928 on. According to Maeder, dreams have a teleological function, which brings him close to Jung’s and Adler’s position. Later he developed the method of the ‘short psychotherapy’ (Kurzpsychotherapie), which emphasizes the processes of self-regulation and self-cure. According to Maeder’s memoirs, he met Adler in March 1910.
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  #75  
Old February 15th, 2005, 09:25 AM
Trevor Hjertaas Trevor Hjertaas is offline
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Default Re: Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 3, Chapt. XXXIII & XXIV (Theory & Interpretation of Dreams)

This comment refers to chapter XXIV.

Like Manu, I appreciated Adler's insight that we are actively creating our future, and prophetic dreams are merely an expression of this creative movement. This illustrates wonderfully the "power of the individual" to construct his or her world, or at least to perpetuate early-formed views of life and self (within certain external constraints, of course).

It seems to me that this is therefore a worthwhile interpretation to offer to clients when they present similar prophetic material, as it counters a passive belief in the fantastical, and helps them realize their own, rather astonishing, abilities.

Trevor Hjertaas, Psy. D.
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  #76  
Old February 16th, 2005, 10:56 AM
Henry Stein Henry Stein is offline
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Default Re: Discussion of CCWAA, Vol. 3, Chapt. XXXIII & XXIV (Theory & Interpretation of Dreams)

Regarding Chapter XXIV, as well as Manu's and Trevor's comments about the prophetic nature of dreams, it would be interesting to add a quote by Franz Plewa:
"The dream functions as a springboard into life, into the future. We act in our dreams as if we know the future and then proceed automatically. We use this aid if we feel insecure towards the problem. We abuse our style of life in these cases; instead of using it as a ‘platform’ from which we look into life, we make it the ‘cork’ on which we float. Then a problem comes along for which our old style of life cannot serve as a ‘cork’ anymore, and we find ourselves under a tension which we must overcome. This will clearly stand out in our dreams, and in our dreams we do not have to make any corrections. We do in our dreams what we would not do when we were awake, because then we feel our responsibility. In dreams, our conscience does not speak."

A translation of "The Dream as the Key of Character," a lecture called "Der Traum als Schlüssel des Characters," from typewritten notes in Dutch, title in German, February 27th 1939, location unknown (probably Holland), in the AAISFNW/ATP Archives.)
Additional quotes about dreams and dreaming, by Alfred Adler, Kurt Adler, Sophia de Vries, and Lydia Sicher may be found at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homep...n/qu-dream.htm
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