ABSTRACT

ATTITUDES OF PSYCHOANALYSTS TOWARDS

THE EFFICACY AND USE OF DREAM ANALYSIS

by

Kenneth C. Coniglio

                This study investigated and analyzed the attitudes of psychoanalysts towards the efficacy and use of dream analysis in contemporary psychoanalytic practice. An original research questionnaire was created utilizing a Likert-like scale which allowed the concept of attitude to be quantified and measured. The survey was completed by 370 analysts listed in the 2001 registry of the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis. The responses received represented 52.8% of the total population surveyed.

                Five research questions and 14 background variables were analyzed and discussed. The attitudes of psychoanalysts surveyed were found to be substantially favorable toward the efficacy and use of dream analysis. It was concluded that, within the parameters of this study, dream analysis still maintains a strong and important position as a therapeutic intervention. Neither gender nor years of clinical experience provided significant differences in attitude, although certain significant differences pertaining to specific questionnaire statements were noted. It was also determined that those analysts having attended post analytic training dream workshops had a significantly more positive attitude and used dreams more often in private practice.

                The attitudes of psychoanalysts were not affected by the level of degree earned or their primary type of clinical practice. There were, however, significant differences between several primary clinical orientations.  A total of 10 of the 14 background variables

were found to be statistically significant and five of these variables positively correlated with the use of dreams in clinical practice. The more analysts recalled or worked with their own dreams, the more positive their attitude and the more they utilized dream analysis with their clients. The same findings held for those analysts who attended post analytic training dream workshops or devoted more time to reading dream literature. It was also determined that the more frequently analysts were asked to present dreams in their own personal analysis, the more positive their attitude and the more they used dreams with their clients.

                The fundamental principle observed in this study was that psychoanalysts who were more exposed to dream analysis in their personal and professional lives possessed a more positive attitude towards its efficacy and utilized dream analysis to a greater extent in their clinical practices.