Dream theories, and dream interpreters have been around for centuries. The most common would be that of Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, Carl Jung and Fredrick Pers.
Sigmund Freud:
Sigmund Freud revolutionized the study of dreams with his work "The Interpretation Of Dreams". Freud began to analyze dreams in order to understand aspects of personality as they relate to pathology. He believed that nothing we did occurred by chance; every action and thought is motivated by our unconscious at some level. In order to live in a civilized society, we tend to repress our urges and impulses. But these urges and impulses have a way of coming to the surface in disguised forms. It has to be released.
Alfred Adler:
Adler's view of dreams was that they were an open pathway toward our true thoughts, emotions and actions. In you dreams, you are able to clearly see your aggressive impulses and desires. Adler saw dreams as a way of overcompensating for your shortcomings in your waking life. For example, if a person is unable to stand up to her boss, she may safely lash out in anger at her boss in a dream. Thus dreams offer some sort of satisfaction that may be more socially acceptable.
Carl Jung:
In the beginning, Carl Jung studied under Sigmund Freud. But eventually, their differing views on dreams caused a major rift and each went their separate ways.
Like Freud, Jung believed in the existence of the unconscious. However, he didn't see the unconscious as animalistic and instinctual. He saw it as more spiritual and dreams were a way to reveal and acquaint ourselves with the unconscious. He didn't necessarily saw dreams as attempts to hide our true feelings from the waking mind. They served to guide the waking self to achieve wholeness. Dreams offered a solution to a problem you are facing in your waking life.
Fredrick Pers:
rederick Perls (1893-1970) is the founder of Gestalt therapy which seeks to fill our emotional voids so that we can become a unified whole. Perls believed that dreams contain the rejected, disowned parts of the Self. Every character and every object in a dream represents an aspect of yourself. Thus, he rejected the notion that dream imagery was part of a universal symbolic language. Each dream is unique to the individual who dreams it
