The cipher method is a lay model of dream interpretation that treats the dream as a secret code, in which every event has a hidden meaning interpreted through a cipher, or key.

Convenient dreams are simple evocations of wish fulfillment—for instance, dreaming of drinking water when one is thirsty.

Counter-wish dreams are dreams that distort their latent wish content with manifest content that is frightful or negative. The negative content counters the positive value of the wish.