In this paper, dreams are approached from an ego psychological orientation. As we know, Freud (1900-1901) considered dreams to be the "royal road to the unconscious." The growing importance of ego psychology and the associated structural concepts have made work with dreams and their interpretation during analysis one of the several important elements in the analytic process. This viewpoint subsumes Kris's (1951) contributions concerning the id in psychoanalysis and the formulation that the rapid uncovering of id content is no longer a principal goal. Emphasis on the importance of understanding the defensive process of ego functioning described by Freud (1966) is also assumed by ego psychology. Also included is Hartmann's (1939) contribution, which placed emphasis on the innate development of what he called the conflict-free sphere of the ego. "Ego Psychology" focuses attention on the normal as well as abnormal ego functioning. Altman (1969) and Greenson (1970) consider the dream essential to an exploration of the unconscious. They feel that the present emphasis on ego psychology may have led to a devaluation of interest in the dream along with the decrease of attention to the id. Greenson, arguing for the "exceptional position of the dream, "disagrees with Waldhorn (1967) and the conclusion of the Kris Study Group, who believe that all material presented by the patient is to be regarded as having equal weight. While these writers were dealing with the dream in individual treatment, the same concerns are applicable to group therapy. Foulkes and Anthony (1957) enumerate three basic factors that are crucial to transform a therapy group into group analytic psychotherapy: