MDCS40410 The Symptom and the Dream

Academic Year 2023/2024

Sigmund Freud proposes his fundamental concept of the unconscious on the evidence of working with dreams, parapraxes, jokes and symptoms. His articulation of the laws of unconscious mental functioning derives from his work with these formations of the unconscious. This module studies the dream and the symptom leaving the parapraxes and jokes to be covered in MDCS40420 [Psychoanalysis and language]. Both modules cover the mechanisms of the unconscious as discovered by Freud and the recognition of these in terms drawn from linguistics by Jacques Lacan, leading him to propose that the unconscious is structured like a language. The primary text for the study of the Freudian account of the importance of dreams in working with mental phenomena is The Interpretation of Dreams, the text that launched the practice of psychoanalysis in 1900. The text used to follow a psychoanalytic response to the symptom is the case history 'Notes upon a Case of Obsessional Neurosis' (aka the Rat Man case history). The reading of these texts relates them to clincial practice which works with dreams and symptoms.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of the module the student will be able to:1) Demonstrate an understanding of the mechanisms of dream work 2) Relate the psychoanalytic theory of dreams to clinical practice. 3) Demonstrate an understanding of the psychoanalytic account of obsessional neurosis. 4) Relate the theory of obsessional neurosis to clinical practice.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

32
Specified Learning Activities

12
Autonomous Student Learning

60
Total

104
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
peer and group work; lectures; critical writing; reflective learning; in-class discussion; case-based learning; student presentations 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Requirements:

a knowledge of psychoanalysis acquired either at postgraduate level or as informed by professional clinical experience (including personal analysis) and/or other prior learning


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Essay: One 2,000 word essay; one non-graded class presentation and written report Varies over the Trimester n/a Graded Yes

100

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Students are invited to contact the Programme Leader following receipt of grades to learn from their work

Name Role
Ms Monica Errity Tutor
Dr Emer Rutledge Tutor
Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
 

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