Dream Interpretation — MRCPsych Paper B MCQ
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Correct answer: A — To explore manifest dream content for its latent unconscious meaning
The correct answer is A. In classical Freudian theory, the manifest content is the dream as consciously recalled, whereas the latent content comprises the underlying unconscious wishes, conflicts and meanings that dream interpretation seeks to explore. Free association may be used to elicit the patient's personal associations to dream elements, but it is a method supporting interpretation rather than the ultimate aim; this made the original wording ambiguous between A and B. Socratic questioning and behavioural experiments are principally cognitive therapy techniques. Exposure involves systematic or repeated confrontation with feared stimuli and is a behavioural treatment for anxiety-related problems, not a defining feature of psychoanalytic dream interpretation.
Reference: Levy J. Studying the interpretation of dreams in the company of analytic candidates. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. 2009;57(4):847–870. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37139735/