102: Freud I: Beginning Theories of Neurosis, The Interpretation of Dreams, and The Topographic Theory
Instructors
Lincoln Hess, M.D.
Seth Kleinerman, M.D.
September 8, 2025 – January 12, 2026
Mondays, 8:35 – 10:00 pm
No class: 9/22, 10/13, 12/22, 12/29
CLICK HERE for Zoom link if you are attending class remotely
Course Description
Course 102 begins our Institute’s two-year curriculum on the contributions of Sigmund Freud’s theoretical and clinical writings to psychoanalysis. In this first of four sequential courses, students and instructors discuss Freud’s psychoanalytic work through 1900, reading selected papers which launch psychoanalysis as a form of therapy, as a model of the mind, and as a method of investigation. The first five classes focus on clinical discoveries, innovations in technique, and theoretical formulations described by Freud between 1892-1899, including his discoveries of defense and unconscious motivation as well as his emerging understanding of neurotic symptom formation. These beginning papers describe clinical bases for recognizing defensive operations and their immediate precipitants in unconscious conflict. The class next dedicates ten sessions to reading and discussing The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud’s most extensive and detailed clinical description and theoretical formulation of unconscious mental functioning and a basis for his Topographic Model of the mind.
Course Objectives
After attending this course, students will be able to:
- Describe Freud’s methods, observations, and his inferences in explaining and treating hysteria, phobias, and obsessions.
- Describe Freud’s method of interpreting dreams and his inferences about the processes that bring about manifest dream content.
- Describe the role of the unconscious in psychological conflict as presented in Freud’s topographical theory.
Evaluation Method
Each student’s participation in class discussion and his or her demonstration of understanding of the course objectives and reading material is assessed in a written evaluation by the instructor(s).
These articles are protected under relevant copyright regulations. They are available in the New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute Electronic Reserve for your convenience, and for your personal use.
READINGS FOR 2025 ARE CONFIRMED.
CLICK HERE for Zoom link if you are attending class remotely
I. The Cathartic Method and an Emerging Model of the Mind
CLASS 1: September 8, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Shedler, Jonathan (2022). “That was then, this is now: Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy for the rest of us”. Contemporary Psychoanalysis 58: 2-3, 405-437.
“Hysteria,” in Psychoanalytic Terms & Concepts, 2012, eds. Auchincloss and Samberg, pp. 102-104.
Breuer, J. (1893). Fräulein Anna O, Case Histories from Studies on Hysteria. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, 2:19-47.
Breuer, J. & Freud, S. (1893). On The Psychical Mechanism of Hysterical Phenomena: Preliminary Communication from Studies on Hysteria. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, 2:1-17. [Read pp. 3-17]
II. The First Full Analysis without hypnosis and discovery of motivated “resistance offered by the patient in the reproduction of … memories”
CLASS 2: September 15, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
“Topographic Theory,” in Psychoanalytic Terms & Concepts, 2012, eds. Auchincloss and Samberg, pp. 265-266.
Freud, S. (1938). An Outline of Psycho-Analysis. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, 23:139-208. [Read p. 174]
Freud, S. (1893). Miss Lucy R, Case Histories from Studies on Hysteria. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, 2:106-124. [Please read the entire case from last line of p 106 to p 124]
Freud, S. (1893). Fräulein Elisabeth von R, Case Histories from Studies on Hysteria. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume II (1893-1895): Studies on Hysteria, 135-181 [Read p 135 – first full para on p 169]
[Elizabeth’s treatment began late 1892. The case was written in early 1894.]
III. Mechanisms and Motivations
CLASS 3: September 29, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1894). The Neuro-Psychoses of Defence. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume III (1893-1899): Early Psycho-Analytic Publications, 41-61.
Freud, S. (1896). Further Remarks on the Neuro-Psychoses of Defence. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume III (1893-1899): Early Psycho-Analytic Publications, 157-185. [Read pp. 159-174]
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Bazan, A. (2017). Alpha Synchronization as a Brain Model for Unconscious Defense: An Overview of the Work of Howard Shevrin and His Team. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 98(5):1443-1473.
Berlin, H. A. (2011). The Neural Basis of the Dynamic Unconscious. Neuropsychoanalysis, 13:5-31.
IV. Psychoanalysis as a Method of Investigation
CLASS 4: October 6, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1893). The Psychotherapy of Hysteria from Studies on Hysteria. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume II (1893-1895): Studies on Hysteria, 253-305.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Shevrin, H., Snodgrass, M., Brakel, L.A.W., Kushwaha, R., Kalaida, N.L. and Bazan, A. (2013). Subliminal unconscious conflict alpha power inhibits supraliminal conscious symptom experience. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 7:544.
V. Suppressed Content and a Relation to Memory and Fantasy
CLASS 5: October 20, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1896). The Aetiology of Hysteria. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume III (1893-1899): Early Psycho-Analytic Publicataions, 187-221. [Read starting on page 195 with first full paragraph through to page 199 through first full oparagraph, and on page 210 from the seventh line from the bottom through line ten on page 211.]
Freud, S. (1906). My Views on the Part Played by Sexuality in the Aetiology of the Neuroses (1906 [1905]). The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume VII (1901-1905): A Case of Hysteria, Three Essays on Sexuality and Other Works, 269-279. [Read starting with line 5 on page 274 through line 7 on page 276, including footnote on page 275.]
Freud, S. (1899). Screen Memories. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume III (1893-1899): Early Psycho-Analytic Publications, 299-322.
VI. Discovering the Method of Interpreting Dreams
CLASS 6: October 27, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1900). The Method of Interpreting Dreams: An Analysis of a Specimen Dream. In The Interpretation of Dreams. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams, 96-121. [Read first full para on p 100 thru p 121]
Freud, S. (1900). The Dream Work. In The Interpretation of Dreams. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams, 292-296. [Read dream of Irma’s injection on pp 292-296.]
VII. Opposing Forces
CLASS 7: November 3, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1900). A Dream is the Fulfillment of a Wish. In The Interpretation of Dreams. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams, 122-133.
Freud, S. (1900). Distortion in Dreams. In The Interpretation of Dreams. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams, 134-162.
VIII. Material and Sources of Dreams
CLASS 8: November 10, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1900). Recent and Indifferent Material in Dreams. In The Interpretation of Dreams. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams, 163-183. (omitting the last para. on p. 166 and resuming with second para on p. 169)
Freud, S. (1900). The Dream of the Botanical Monograph. In The Interpretation of Dreams. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams, 282-284.
Freud, S. (1900). Infantile Material. In The Interpretation of Dreams. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams, 189-219. [Read pp 189-199 and pp 218-219.]
IX. The Dream-Work: Latent Dream Thoughts transform into Manifest Dream Content
CLASS 9: November 17, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1900). Condensation. In The Interpretation of Dreams. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams, 277-302. [Read pp 277-296 (INCLUDING ON PAGE 296 DREAM 1, BUT NOT DREAM 2) and pp 298-302 (START WITH DREAM 5 ON PAGE 298 AND FINISH PARTIAL PARAGRAPH ENDING ON TOP OF PAGE 302)]
Freud, S. (1900). Displacement. In The Interpretation of Dreams. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams, 305-309.
X. The Dream-Work
CLASS 10: November 24, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1900). The Means of Representation in Dreams and Considerations of Representability. In The Interpretation of Dreams. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams, [Read 310-338; 339 through the top half of p. 344]
Freud, S. (1900). Calculations in Dreams. In The Interpretation of Dreams. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams, 414-416.
XI. The Dream-Work
CLASS 11: December 1, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1900). Speeches in Dreams. In The Interpretation of Dreams. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams, [Read 421-425.]
Freud, S. (1900). Affects in Dreams. In The Interpretation of Dreams. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams, 460-487. [Read pp. 460-473 (p. 460 – top para on p. 473) and pp. 479-487 (first full para on p. 479 – p. 487)]
Freud, S. (1900). Secondary Revision. In The Interpretation of Dreams. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams, 488-508. [Read pp 488-501 (through top partial para on p 501) and 506-508 (starting with first full para on p 506)]
XII. The Unconscious, The Topographic Model of the Mind, and The Psychology of Dream Processes
CLASS 12: December 8, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1912). A Note on the Unconscious in Psycho-Analysis. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud 12:255-266. [Read pp 260-266]
Freud, S. (1900). Introduction and The Forgetting of Dreams and Regression. In The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams. [Read pp. 509-549]
XIII. The Unconscious, The Topographic Model of the Mind, and The Psychology of Dream Processes
CLASS 13: December 15, 2025
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1900). Wish-fulfilment and Section D: Arousal by Dreams — The Function of Dreams — Anxiety Dreams. In The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams. [Read pp 550-587, and pages 269-271, starting with page 269 Dream 4 through the top paragraph on page 271].
DOWNLOAD THE PDF to pages 269-271
DOWNLOAD THE PDF to pages 550-587
XIV. The Unconscious, The Topographic Model of the Mind, and The Psychology of Dream Processes
CLASS 14: January 5, 2026
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1900). Wish-Fulfilment and the Primary and Secondary Processes. In The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams. [Read pp 588-609]
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Solms, M. (2017). What is “the unconscious,” and where is it located in the brain? A neuropsychoanalytic perspective. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 1406: 90-97.
XV. The Unconscious, The Topographic Model of the Mind, and The Psychology of Dream Processes
CLASS 15: January 12, 2026
REQUIRED READINGS
Freud, S. (1900). The Unconscious and Consciousness. In The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume IV (1900): The Interpretation of Dreams. [Read pp 610-621]