Wow, echo that's a beautiful dream. I wonder what it means. I think you should tell your dream to your P. Who knows? Maybe he is interested in dreams. They are part of you and talking about them in therapy is important. I wonder what the bird means?

That is an amazing dream, echo. I don't pretend to know squat, but my first impression is that you two are relating to each other (same page- same shoes,) and that is grounding you some how. And maybe he is protecting you.

OK here's another dream to interpret, if you're interested.

I show up for my session, and on the end table between our chairs (which normally holds the plant, the box of tissues, and two damn clocks, one for each of us) is a platter of cookies. Sugar cookies with icing, like you'd make for Christmas, except they are circles and triangles (tree-like), and the icing is white and pale blue. So he offers me a cookie and I take one. Then he says, "No, go ahead and take all you want. There's plenty. Take some more." And I say No, one is enough, thanks anyway. But he persists, Have some more, really! And I am saying again that one is plenty for me and I don't need any more. And then he pulls out the shrink talk. "What do these cookies mean to you? What would it say about Echo if you had two cookies, or five, or ten? What if you DID need more cookies?" WTF? I'm trying not to laugh, and kinda getting annoyed at the same time. I mean, of course I WANT more cookies, but I don't NEED them. I'm not even hungry. I'm not going to sit there and stuff sugar in my mouth just because it's there. I'm on the verge of saying "Fine! I'll eat more cookies!" when I wake up.

Have at it.

echo, so you want the cookies in your dream? but you keep telling yourself that you don't need them?
I wonder what food in the dream means. Is it nurturing or something like that?
I had a dream that I was eating really really delicious dumplings few nights ago.

I'm telling you echo, go for more cookies/sessions and tell him your dreams

Your dream, Echo, Had me laughing, but sorry, I have no idea.
Maybe he thinks you want more from him, more than he can give??? and maybe cookies are cookies, really- no idea, sorry.
Keep posting- you have great dreams.
I have not remembered any lately.

Hi Echo,

When I read your dream I wondered if the cookies were all the things he is offering to you (nurturing, like Amazon said). To you they seem like special-occasion things that could be bad for you, and you have to control yourself so you don't get fat or get into bad habits or something - you don't want to *indulge* yourself in his care, because it might harm you or look bad. But he keeps offering, insisting.

Maybe he thinks he is offering you a meal, rather than cookies!!

Hi Echo

I used to do a lot of dream interpretation for myself and found that the key to interpreting a dream was the emotional ‘tone’ of it. Going to suggest my interpretation of your cookie dream - but obviously only from a totally outsider viewpoint seeing as how I don’t know the feelings you experienced during the dream or what the things in the dream mean you to personally.

My instant understanding of the dream when I read it (again bear in mind it’s MY understanding only, therefore I’m interpreting it as if it were my dream) was that T is very forcefully offering you something that is ostensibly a goodie, something that you want (meeting some emotional or therapeutic need in you) but that in fact is NOT what you want, but because he’s offering it you feel that you should take them, because he’s the therapist and he ‘knows’ what you want. My then feeling was that you’re actually wanting something else altogether and are angry that he’s offering you all this saccharine stuff instead of what you really need (that last bit definitely MY interpretation so please don’t think I’m trying to tell you what you felt.)

Actually the feel of it I got from your description was that it was quite a positive dream. How did you feel when you woke up? That’s often a key to understanding what a dream means.

This thread is so interesting...I've only read through a few posts so far, but I fully intend to go back and read the rest!

Echo, my immediate interpretation of your dream is that maybe your T is offering you, or trying to show you, more than you realize. Like, maybe what he's trying to give you is more than just what you perceive to be a pile of sugar. Do you tell your T about your dreams?

Here's something I've been chewing on for a few months now. I'm a college student, and when I went home for my Christmas break, I had a hard time being home with my mom. Anyway, I could barely sleep, I was anxious, and, despite medication, I think I was going through a low-level depression at the time, versus the pretty much "blah" feeling I have for the most part. For the sake of getting some sleep, I would take some OTC sleeping meds, and they caused me to have some vivid dreams. One of them started with me being chased by a group of people. I got to a bridge, and I felt like i had no where to go, so I jumped off the bridge and into the water. I remember thinking that I knew the fall should have killed me, but it didn't. Then, as I was diving into the water, I could feel and hear the water rushing around my ears. My eyes were closed, and I just kept going deeper and deeper into the water, waiting for my momentum to slow. When I finally stopped, I opened my eyes. Above me was that slight light of what should have been the surface of the water, and below me was darker water. Yet, somehow, I had this logical response that going into the darker water would be the way out, but my natural instincts were telling me that going up to the lighter water would get me out. However, since I couldn't decide, I just stayed where I was, frozen in indecision. I didn't dream of the actual act of dying, but I remember thinking about how it would happen, and I remember just knowing that I was going to die, that I wasn't going to be able to save myself. At that point, I woke up. But I woke up because a door slammed, so sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I weren't interrupted.

Anyway, it's kind of a morbid dream, but I've never ever had a dream about dying. I wished I would have talked about it with my individual T, but with only 3 sessions left after my break, there were a lot of other things we needed to talk about. And I don't really see myself ever opening up about that in group therapy...

Thanks for your input. Lots to think about, here.

Lamplighter - The dream definitely had a positive tone. I woke up kind of laughing about it. I didn't feel like I was having something forced on me against my will. Rather, I DID want what was being offered, I just didn't want to be a piggy.

Amazon and Jones - I think you're on to something with the nurturing or more sessions... I was thinking more generally. Cookies are sweet... I crave "sweetness" in my life and that is one word that I definitely use to describe him when I think about what it is I like about him.

A big focus of my therapy has been identifying my needs and learning to ask for what I need. There's been several times this has come up, and he's asked me what I need or pointed out that my needs aren't being met (in my marriage/family life), and I have actually found myself saying or thinking, "I don't need anything." I really just Have No Clue sometimes.

I think this dream is showing me that it's okay to have needs, and to take what I want (within reason). He keeps offering to help me, and I just take a little and then shut down, or worse, push him away (quit therapy or make my sessions further apart). I don't want to get too used to all this sweetness, I don't want to get "fat" on it, learn to expect it, be self-indulgent, be greedy... There's only so much goodness to go around, and I don't deserve it.

And when I write posts like this, I think, "There I go again... Talking just to hear myself speak. Echoing."

I had a session with my T this afternoon and I told her about a dream I had. The short version of the dream is I was in a bedroom and I saw a woman, she open her mouth and i saw she had something (cant remember what) going right through her tongue. When I saw this, I was screaming at her 'you've bit his penis off' over and over again.

Telling my T about the dream was fine until she said the word penis! I wanted to hide under the cusions, it soooooo didn't sound right. I was embarassed, I got the giggles and told her please don't say that word, I really did't like hearing her say it. Has anyone else felt like this?

Hev

I had a dream that I found disturbing. I know the main meaning, but I don't know if there are any other meanings to it. I was in a dark place, it seems like it was underground in a dark cave, and there were a lot of other people there too. We were all floating on something like big wooden rafts or something. We were lying on our backs and were all dressed the same, it seems. We had on our abdomens these thin, flat, stiff sheets of something (sort of like rigid plastic covered with some special type of plasticized paper). These were rectangular, sort of like a sign lying across our torso with the length of the rectangle running vertically. On the surface of this rectangular "sign" was a black squiggly line, each person's line being unique. The line was about an inch and a half or so in diameter and just was randomly drawn in no particular pattern, sort of like what a child might "draw" in a photo editing or "paint" program on the computer using the airbrush tool. In the darkness there was a man's voice heard over what seemed like a PA system or a megaphone, asking questions. It didn't take long before I realized that these things that were resting on top of our bodies were like a sort of lie detector. When the answer to one of the questions the man was asking us was true of us, this rectangle thing would light up. The questions never triggered mine to light up until finally came the dreaded question: "Are you emotionally attached to your therapist?" Then my sign (and mine alone) came on in a flash of blinding light and I jolted awake and felt this awful sense of dread hit me. At this point I already knew I was attached to her and had told her the day before over the phone. All she had said was, "Hmmmm...", and offered me an appointment for 3 weeks later. Needless to say, I was in a bad place emotionally at that point, but the dream just kind of made me feel worse. It was a little weird to have a dream that was that to-the-point for me.

I've been having a lot of dreams lately, which is new to me because I haven't had dreams for several months, and the ones I'm having now are a lot more vivid than I ever remember having in the past, but I just don't remember them when I wake up. If I do and they have to do with my T (which I know they often do) I will have to post them and see what you all think, because it's interesting to read your interpretations. I wonder if my T does much with dream interpretations. Interesting topic and analyses!

Wow, some collection of dreams we have here.
Heather, that's kind of interesting. It's almost like you actually dreamt about your T saying word "penis".

Well, I don't know how I would feel, didn't talk about penises with my T yet
I imagine that could embarass me sligtly since he is a guy.
But the dream, very interesing...

MTF, sound like a bit SF dream to me. I think for me it would be almost impossible to remember.

I like to think about this thread as a treasure chest of our dreams.

My t brought up the topic to make things sort of normal about the topic, but I did not respond.

I dreamt about explosives, I was putting exlosives in a room and was going to blow up something. I had very strange feeling in the dream. A feeling that I could not quite remember after I woke up, it was just very very strange.
I also dreamt of being in a small market and choosing ice cream...

Thanks everybody for sharing your dreams. I'm so envious that you remember so many details. I hardly ever remember mine, and then it's just bits and pieces.

Kashley and MTF, what very detailed and mysterious dreams. MTF, yours also seemed forboding, as if you were being judged. It's really obvious that you were feeling bad about becoming emotionally attached to your T!

Echo, I like your interpretation of your sweet cookie dream. It's like you see your needs as extras instead of needs. That is actually kind of sad. You do deserve to get your needs met. And I don't think you talk "just to hear yourself speak". You always have something good to say.

A couple of nights ago I had another version of what is probably my only recurring dream. The specific details are always different, but the basics are always the same. It's not all that interesting but I thought I'd throw it out here anyway just to see if anyone has any insights.

I used to be in the Army (for real). In my dream, I'm in the Army again and my unit is going "to the field" (miitary equivalent of civilian "camping"). I'm trying to get ready but I'm always missing some of my gear. I'm running late and I'm worried that I'm going to get in trouble for missing formation, even though I don't really want to go. And through it all, I'm also worried that an officer will walk by, and I won't notice so I'll neglect to salute, and get in trouble for that, too.

So let me know if you have any ideas. And I'll let you know if I dream anything more interesting.

SG

Hi again Strummergirl.

I seem to be following you around all over the forum!

Your dream sounds like it’s actually really significant. Can I ask what sorts of feelings the different details in your dream evoked, and also how you felt when you immediately awoke from it? It’s usually the emotional tone of a dream that is the key to interpreting it (and of course only you can know what the dream actually means!) But knowing the feelings involved helps to guess at what the dream might have meant.

I got very interested in dream interpretation at one point - in fact I ended up spending a HUGE amount of my time working on my dreams - once I started recording them I found I could remember so many dreams every night that it all got a bit out of hand. I was influenced heavily by a writer called Ann Faraday, who wrote two books ‘Dream Power’ and ‘The Dream Game’. They are a bit dated now but the ideas in them are still really interesting and useful. I wonder if anyone else here has read them?

Hi Lamplighter,

I'm so excited that we have our very own dream interpreter on MyShrink! I'm just kidding, there's no pressure. But it sounds like you've really got some experience with this. How interesting that the more you wrote them down, the more you remembered. Maybe I should try that! Anyway, here are the few feelings this dream evokes.

Going to the field - dreading it, I don't want to go (I never liked going to the field)
Can't find my gear, being late, going to miss formation, might miss saluting the officer - anxious, worried that I'm going to be in trouble
Waking up - relief, glad it was just a dream

Does that help?

SG

Hey SG thanks for giving more info about your dream. Now I’m going to do a pretend T trick lol - it’s actually how you feel about the specific things in the dream that give it away (so to speak) - for instance going to the field (about which you felt dread (?) - there’s a difference between dreading something and feeling dread maybe) what is it about going to the field that made you dread it? What are the feelings in the dream that you had when you knew you had to go to the field? Why didn’t you want to go? What does it mean to you to go to the field? (Ha ha just call me Freud.)

Again how did all the other details make you feel, what associations and meanings spring to mind when you remember them from the dream? Not being able to find your gear (panic? Frustration? What does that remind you of emotionally?) and the other details especially missing saluting the officer (that’s a good one lol) that you fear getting into trouble - obvious connection in my mind to the past, to authority figures expecting obedience and correct behaviour - it would be interesting to see if you could make emotional connections between being in the army and how you saw superior officers and even the whole hierarchical structure of the army and what you remember about how you felt as a child in similar situations. And then to see if anything in your current life is making you feel the same way. (These are just ideas, not necessarily what’s going on in you.)

Sometimes I’ve found with a recurring dream that it’s the overall emotional sense of it that will connect to something that’s happening in real life - the more you can recall the actual feelings specific details of the dream evoke the more your mind seems to make connections to things in real life. After a while a recurring dream becomes a kind of shorthand to tell me that I’m in a position or situation in real life that raises the same set of feelings and that then gives me an insight how something is bothering me or has made an impact on me that I hadn’t been aware of at the time.

This dream sounds pretty much like it’s using actual life experience of which you would consciously remember how it made you felt - so it would be interesting to know what you think happened during the day which might have sparked a connection to your time in the army (sometimes it’s possible to remember a specific moment during the day where you fleetingly at the back of your head registered a thought or perception that made you think of that time, or even a vague feeling that reminded you of how you felt at the time of being in the army). Dreams are inevitably sparked by something in real life - that’s actually an important part of the interpretation, getting what your subconscious is working on.

As you remember more of the feeling tone of the dream and what specific details in it mean to you the more things become clearer as to what the dream means to you (sometimes it can be something really insignificant in a dream that you don’t consciously register that gives you the sudden connection to something in waking life that sparked the dream - the more you go into and remember details and feelings of the dream, the more likely these sorts of connections spontaneously arise.)

That you felt relief on waking says that the dream had quite a strong negative feeling tone. Did it stay with you during the day at all or did you manage to forget about how it made you feel as soon as you got up? If it was in your thoughts at all during the day that seems to indicate that there’s something going on in your life that you subconsciously need to sort out (ie your subconscious is trying to make sense of something and it’s sufficiently unsettling for it to make you semi consciously aware of it). Ok enough of my ramblings - got to bear in mind I’m saying all this entirely based on my own understanding of dream interpretation so it may be utter bollocks.

It would be really interesting to hear how you did feel about specific things in your dream though - but only if you feel up to going into such a level of personal exposure (bit like therapy actually lol).

Phew now you know why I ended up spending so long on interpreting my dreams!

Lamplighter- that is amazing!!!
I enjoyed reading your interpretation.
What does it mean if someone rarely remembers their dream? that is me. I remember one every so often- maybe once a month.

I do know from learning about biological psychology and the study of dreams that you only vividly remember dreams when you are immediately woken out of REM sleep. This typically only happens when you are forcefully woken, like by an alarm clock or a sudden noise. REM is the 5th (out of 5) stage of sleep, and we typically cycle back to the first state and to wakefulness if we are allowed to do so naturally.

We do dream in stages 3 and 4, but they aren't as clear, and we aren't as likely to remember them upon waking. You also might not remember your dreams if you don't get into a very deep sleep. You may be getting into stages 3 and 4, but you are less likely to remember dreams, especially if you ever continue to REM sleep.

Hey there, Freud...er, I mean Lamplighter Now I really feel like a "dream slacker". Thanks for writing all of that, I think I understand how you're looking at it, the way you are describing how the feelings in the dream could be tied to feelings I'm having about something else in my life makes sense...but the truth is I don't think I can answer any more thoroughly than I already have. Either I don't pay enough attention to the dream, or my dreams aren't that rich or vivid. But I will try to pay better attention next time. And I'm going to try writing them down when I do remember them so maybe I will remember them better. Thank you!

SG

I think once you start paying more attention to your dreams, you may start remembering more.
I noticed that when I was doing a lot of reading and studying I was dreaming more.
As for waking up in the REM stage, well I suppose my alarm clock does help with it.
It is really interesting activity... sleep and dreaming...

Any new dreams anybody?

I'll post mine then.


I had a therapy session in my parents flat, in a room that used to be mine. My T and I were just sitting there in silence.
Then I left the room because my friend just called in, I spent some time talking to her and when I went back to my room, he was gone. The time was up and he left. I panicked and run down the stairs in despair to see him.
He was in his car ready to leave, so I just raised my hand to wave at him, he waved his hand back. I think I calmed down after seeing him before he was about to drive away. His car in my dream had golden colour instead of red.

I had one last night. I was working in an office building and my P was my boss. I did his filing and that sort of thing. A coworker told me his wife had just died of cancer the day before. I wanted to do something for him, so I bought him some presents. I got a teddy bear, a nonallergenic pillow made of organic cotton, and a women's silky camisole and panty set. ?!?!?

When I got back to the office with the presents, I suddenly felt embarrassed about them. I still gave him the pillow and the lingerie, but hid the teddy bear. When I gave him the gifts he kind of said, "Oh. A pillow. Thanks." Then he looked at the lingerie and said, "Oh. That's nice. Thank you." and hung it up in the closet. He seemed confused but touched that I had bought him anything. I was just confused and embarrassed. What was I thinking?!

Kind of a weird dream, to say the least.

I have a weird dream to report, but before the dream there is background.
Currently I am struggling a bit with boundries as it relates to spiritual discussions with my T- so this might be connected to that somehow. Here goes-
I am walking in a quaint small town, much like one around where I live. I am looking for my 2 cats (don't have a cat in real life though) and some teens tell me that a wonderful band will be playing in town tonight and they are on the town tennis courts practicing. I go to see them. They are a black hip-hop band that do old Michael Jackson types of dancing. One of the members comes over to talk to me to give me advice- almost psychological counseling, but more philosophical stuff- good advice though. (don't remember what it was though) Another famous group is playing in the park- but as I draw closer to watch, I notice that 2 of them are nude, so I don't go any closer- don't seek their advice. They were playing yoga meditation type music. I am still wandering around town- looking for my 2 cats. I see my T at a picnic table with some other people, and I just stop and look but don't go to him for advice.

I dream a lot...
I mostly dream about being with a man. This man is usually disguised, it is somebody I know, or I knew, but I think he is somehow connected with my T. Maybe he is my T in my dream.

I had a dream the other night, that I met a woman and I was going to have sex with her. In fact it was not a very feminine or attractive looking woman. While I was getting physically close with her, it turned out that it actually is not a woman at all.

Last night I was dreaming about a guy from my work that I fancy a bit. I met him in my dream, we walked together, we talked and I felt that he wants to spend time with me, talk with me, get to know me, be closer with me. I was so excited. A bit unsettled, but happy in general. He had long hair in my dream, while in reality this particular guy has very short hair.
My T once told me that when he was much younger, he used to have long hair.
It is a recurring theme in my dreams. Men. Or a man who I love in my dream. Hm...

erm...move along, nothing to see here...

WLOH,

Interesting dream. Did your T say what he thought it meant?

I just wanted to say that I'm glad that you had a good session today. After all you've been through lately with him and the other office members, you needed and deserved a good session!

MTF

WLOH
So what was the dream? I did not get to read it. Sorry you had to take it down.

I have not remembered a dream since I last posted. I rarely remember dreams- I wonder what that means?

no, i don't dream, at least not that i remember. maybe it is the lunesta...i would love to dream, and to try to interpret them.

i think they would surely be non-violent non-torturous deaths of my parents...how 'bout that!! not hard to interpret. and now that i am learning we should not feel such SHAME for our dreams and fantasies, as long as we recognize them as such, and not reality, they CAN be kind of fun!! and perhaps healing?? ((this insight through Voirst's book on 'necessary losses'...great book!)) i thank her for an acceptable place to put these once-shameful desires...oh that catholism sure did a number on me!!

Sorry I was a bit embarrassed about the dream (and I want to make it clear it was nothing anyone said) but I will put down most of it here, and tell you what my T said about it.

Ok so my dad had passed away and I had inherited and was living in his house, back where I grew up (east coast USA). T had taken a temporary assignment to counsel children at a kindergarten down the street. He asked me if he could live in my house for that week, and I said "sure." So he moved into the room where my dad sleeps. I should mention that it is the room where I slept as a child, but when I became a teenager my dad gave me the master bedroom and he took the little bedroom. So T was in the little bedroom. I came home from work and T had thrown all my childhood toys and games into the hallway and announced that I could throw them away. I was understandably upset about this but didn't say anything about it in the dream.

Then T started letting things into the house that didn't belong there---birds, bugs, etc...we were in the kitchen and there was a bird flying around in there and he thought it was so cool and I didn't want it in there. T said to me, "I hear you're still unsatisfied with your job at work." I asked him where he had heard that, who told him? He said that he literally "heard" me. Apparently we were working in the same office but on opposite sides of the room (???)
Then T brought a homeless man into the kitchen and told me it was my responsibility to take care of him since T was leaving for work. I was floored, but still, said "ok." Then T and I did the kissing in the air thing where you go back and forth to the sides of the cheeks. Then I hugged him. Immediately I withdrew, mortified, and said "I'm so sorry! I don't know why I did that!" Then T pulled me back into the hug and wouldn't let go. At first it was uncomfortable but then a feeling washed over me that I can only describe as "thank you." Then I woke up.

T thinks it was significant that he was sleeping in my dad's bedroom (parental transference I'm guessing.) Also, he was wondering if I felt pressure from him to go over the childhood traumas I suffered. He specializes in EMDR and I know he wants to help me with that stuff, so he figured him throwing all that stuff into the hallway meant that he wished to unburden me of all those bad memories. He said he wanted to protect me and keep me safe.

So yeah, that's it. Thanks for reading/listening.

WLOH, thanks for sharing your dream (again ) and what your T thought about it. Interesting what they can see in dreams, eh?


I have a dream I had about my T I would like to share. Not too interesting, and I think I see some things about it myself, but wonder what anyone else sees in it.

First, it must be made known that my mother has been a patient of my T's in the past. Don't know if that factors in here, but probably does. My mother is a hair stylist in real life, so in my dream I told my T that my mother did hair and that she does a good job and has fair prices. In the dream, my T went to my mother's house (where I grew up, and where my mother still lives) to have her hair done. I was there too, and I was in the salon visiting with my mother and my T. (When I was living at home I often visited with the ladies whose hair my mother was doing, so this is not uncommon for me.) I had to use the bathroom, so I told my T I would be right back (I think I even asked her not to leave, maybe?). She was sitting in a chair with rollers/curlers in her hair when I left the room. I went upstairs and used the bathroom, running the water so she couldn't hear the sound of me peeing through the thin floor above the salon, then washed my hands when I was done (don't know why all the details, and I'm sure it's more than you wanted to know, sorry). When I got down the first flight of stairs halfway to the salon I saw her outside getting into her car to leave. She was all dressed up looking really nice as usual. I was sad (and shocked that her hair could be done so quickly) that she was already leaving and that she didn't even wait or stay long enough to say goodbye, especially since I had told her I would be right back. This dream happened right after a session where she didn't tell my goodbye, and instead she disconnected from me in an out-of-the-ordinary way that time. Anyway, in the dream I told my mom I felt like my T doesn't like me and my mom said that I don't know how my T really feels, that she said nothing but the contrary. However, my mother wouldn't tell me what my T DID say.

Anyone have any 'interpretations'?

MTF

I have no idea about this stuff, but my first thought was that you were experiencing rejection from your T and it was coming out in your dream. Fear of your T bonding with your mom, again? and not with you, or you feeling left out of something relational with your T? - a;; just mere guesses- I am not an interpreter.

Hi WLOH,
thanks for re-posting.

Wow- your T sleeping in your childhood bedroom. to me that thought is powerful- symbolic of something. Perhaps of him investigating your childhood and throwing out the bad stuff. IDK

Last night I had a dream about my mother that I just wanted to post about before I forget it completely (I hardly ever remember my dreams). We were planning some kind of trip together. We were sitting on the ground next to each other, looking at a map. I don't remember what my mom was saying but she looked happy and excited. And the really weird part is I had the feeling of wanting to be close to her, and hoping for something from her. I even noted in the dream that it was weird that I felt that way. This is something I don't ever "remember" feeling...and I don't feel it right now (in fact I cringed just writing this down, that I wanted to be close to her, that I hoped), but I remember it from the dream, and it was so unusual that I wanted to get it down.

This is something I've been "looking" for in therapy, that I must have had some kind of hope at one time, but haven't been able to consciously remember it. And I don't consciously remember it now...and the dream didn't feel like I was "remembering" anything...but the fact that I even felt it for a moment, even in a dream, is remarkable to me.

SG

Hi SG. So was this a happy feeling dream or sad? I'm just curious. Sometimes I have dreams like this where I wake up with a feeling of longing, but unsure what it is I'm longing for. It's good that you can identify exactly what it is you are needing - the first step to getting that need met!

I've been having lots of dreams lately. (Maybe because I'm taking a nighttime allergy medicine that knocks me out.) I dream about ex-P almost every night. At first the dreams were of the romantic/longing/caretaking variety, but the last two weeks they have switched to being completely ridiculous. Usually in the dream I run into him in public and he's behaving in some way that seems silly or strange, and I wake up sort of laughing about it. I have no idea what this means, if anything.

For example, I dreamt that I went into a diner, and he was sitting alone in the big U-shaped booth in the corner. He had his houseplants on the table, and some tidy little stacks of papers, files, and books, his laptop set up, and even those damn clocks on the table - one facing him and one facing the other side of the booth. He had set up office in a diner!

I went over to talk to him, and he explained he didn't see the need for a whole office anymore when he could operate out of a booth in the diner. Just then the waitress walked up and set down a big bacon cheeseburger and chocolate shake for him, and he gave me a huge smile, as if to say, "See? What did I tell you? Everything I need!" LOL. Before I walked away, I noticed that the ceiling tiles over his head had water stains, and I almost mentioned that he might want to pick a different booth, but I didn't want to rain on his parade, so-to-speak. I was laughing so hard I woke myself up.

Echo, there is so many things and symbols in this dream, as my T would say.
I don't have a clue what any of it can mean, but it sounds pretty amazing. If you have a T right now, you should tell the dream. Sounds very interesting and meaningful.

I had quite an interesting dream one night. At some point in my dream that was a thunderstorm, and a huge, massive lightning stroke very near me. I fell on the ground and was trying to raise and run for shelter. The air was very strange, sort of dense and electrified. It was very dangerous and I run and hid in a safe place to wait for the storm to pass.
I told this dream to my T. Felt like quite a powerful dream, but neutral sort of. And he tells me guess what... that a lightning symbolises.... penis. Wow! And I thought I am telling him such a non-sexual completely neutral dream story.
I had a similar dream years ago, thunderstorm, lightning, dense air...

This is an interesting thread. I dream a lot and started keeping a dream journal several years ago. The problem is I have no idea how to interpret the dreams of what to look for to find a theme or running thread in them. Do dreams come from our subconscious? Are they communications of the ego or superego? Where do I go to learn to interpret my dreams?

deeplyrooted

quote:

Originally posted by Amazon:
Echo, there is so many things and symbols in this dream, as my T would say.
I don't have a clue what any of it can mean, but it sounds pretty amazing. If you have a T right now, you should tell the dream. Sounds very interesting and meaningful.

Really? Yes, I think I will mention all the dreaming to my new T. Maybe nothing specific, unless she asks, but I will mention that I'm dreaming of him a lot. She's good about asking me every week how I'm doing with the "obsessing" about him. I told her last week that it's okay, just more of the usual, and that I know that it's just something to soothe/distract me from my real problems (divorce) right now. I'm just a big day-dreamer; always have been. She said, "Thank you for saying that. You just saved us a lot of time." Apparently she was thinking it would take me months of therapy to come to this realization, since she didn't want to just spell it out for me. I thought that it was nice that she was waiting for me to say it.

Anyway, I never would have mentioned dreams to ex-P, especially dreams about HIM! He just doesn't go there. For some reason I imagine he'd think my dreams are nonsense. Maybe he wouldn't, but it's just not the kind of therapy atmosphere he presents...

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...a huge, massive lightning stroke very near me. ... that a lightning symbolises.... penis. Wow! And I thought I am telling him such a non-sexual completely neutral dream story.

LOL at the "lightning stroke" Freudian slip there... I didn't realize lightning symbolized penises either. Men think everything is about their penis.

Very interesting dreams everyone of you! Echo yours had me laughing hysterically, you really described it so well, I could just see your T sitting there, so funny. Russ got me thinking about dreams in another thread...I've heard that you can begin to remember your dreams if you write them down every night as soon as you wake up, even if it's just a feeling you were left with or a tiny snippet of something write it down and you will begin to remember more and more...so told my brother who absolutley loves dreams. Anyone ever have any luck doing this?
DR, I have no idea about dreams, where they come from, etc...but I'll bet Russ could probably answer your questions. I don't even know what a superego is! Guess I should start learning a bit more about psychology sometime...

BB