Psychoanalytic dream interpretation the main tool of self-analysis, as well as a prominent part of the treatment. Dream understanding and interpretation during that time was influenced heavily by Freud's drive-conflict theory. The therapy was designed to reveal the latent content of the patient's repressed sexuality and unconscious mind. To understand the dream, the therapist had to explore the latent content of the dream via the process of free association. The symbolic method held that dreams had to be considered in their entirety, and therefore are unified in their meanings. This gave way to very narrow interpretations. Individual events in the dreams didn't matter,
Psychology of religion and dreams researching dreams is worthwhile. Some have debated that dreams are purposeless and completely random, whereas other have suggested dreams having an adaptive function that allows for positive implications. Although there isn't findings of specifically lowering negative effects, research has alluded to dreams embellished with religious themes having a positive benefit for the user. The biggest finding was related to dreams and religion included exploring this connection as a form of coping. This effect of the Western worldview of dreams and dream interpretation with religious connotations has spread as far as the churches in Nigeria, Africa. These churches believed their leaders