The Interpretation of Dreams is a book by Sigmund Freud arguing that dreams can be interpreted as a way of accessing the human unconscious. Freud claims that dreams are the "wish fulfillment" of past and present internal conflicts residing in the unconscious, which are censored by the preconscious before reaching the conscious mind. By recounting and examining dreams and their multifaceted symbols in detail, Freudian psychoanalysis claims to help patients understand themselves and their inner psychological conflicts.