October 1999

100 Years of Freud's Interpretation of Dreams
100 Years of Study of the Human Mind
November 4, 1899-November 4, 1999

San Francisco, CA - A century ago, a physician specializing in the treatment of "nervous disorders" named Sigmund Freud published The Interpretation of Dreams. This book, published on November 4, 1899, established the basic foundations of psychoanalysis and became the point of departure for scientific research on the nature of the mind and its processes.

"Freud considered the publication of this book to be the milestone achievement of his career because it integrated all the different strands of his discoveries," says Erik Gann, M.D., president of the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute's Board of Trustees. "The Interpretation of Dreams provides the cornerstone of psychoanalytic technique and theory."

Dr. Gann asserts that the book brings three central threads of Freud's early work together to provide the essential basis of the field of psychoanalysis. The first of these is a description of the first systematic, scientific approach to the understanding of the normal human mental phenomenon of dreaming, which he integrated with his prior work on neurosis. The second is his initial presentation of a general psychological theory of the mind and mental processes. The third is the crucial underlying methodology utilizing free association, that forms the basis of the clinical work and the theory that emanates from it.

Before The Interpretation of Dreams was published, the brain was studied as an object. After Freud published this book, scientists began to look at the connection between the nebulous and hard-to-define mind and the physical, gray brain. What they discovered, and what they are still discovering, is the incredible complexity of both brain and mind.

"The latest discoveries being made in neuroscience are showing remarkable correlation to what Freud hypothesized 100 years ago," says Dr. Gann.

To arrange an interview with Dr. Gann, please contact Mary E. Tressel at 925-686-2958. The San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute and Society is a nonprofit organization and was founded over 50 years ago. Psychoanalysts are experienced mental health professionals, already possessing advanced degrees (MD's, PhD's, MSW's), who have undergone at least eight years of psychoanalytic training.

Fact Sheet

• What is a dream? Freud said: "A dream appears to be a reaction to everything that is simultaneously present in the sleeping mind as currently active material."

• Each dream is unique to its dreamer, because no two minds are exactly alike-and as Nobel Laureate neuroscientist Gerald Edelman says, every human brain is unique-no two brains have the same patterns of networks.

• Written guides to dream symbolism are useless in helping a dreamer understand his or her dreams because of the uniqueness of every human brain.

• Sometimes solutions, lying just below our level of awareness, emerge in dreams. For example, Francis Crick saw the double helix in a dream when he was struggling to develop a model for DNA.

• Psychoanalysis provides a method for learning about one's inner life.

• Psychoanalysis can "set us free," and as Freud said, restore our capacity for meaningful work and our capacity for love-paying attention to our dreams is invaluable to solving our problems.