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4 replies

Dream analysis in your therapy?

russrussMember
Hi all,

I'm curious to know who here routinely discusses their dreams in therapy, and if you've found it helpful.

My T and I focus on my dreams pretty extensively. It's difficult and confusing, but I feel that our dreams are a communication from our psyche (our soul) and it's been helpful to me to look into them for answers about what I'm really feeling below my level of awareness. I guess this is sort of a Jungian/Freudian approach. I know a lot of therapists dismiss the meaning of dreams, but if dreams are really another part of you that is speaking to you, I think it makes sense to not ignore them completely.

I often have dreams that leave me feeling really fearful and anxious when I wake up. My T says that dreams are my own creation and that there's nothing in dreams that is there by accident, even if they make no sense and are totally bizarre.

He has also explained the difference between "manifest content" and "latent content", and even though my dreams are never the same, there certainly are some recurring themes in them.

Anyway, if you have any thoughts on the role of dreams in your therapy, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks, and happy holidays.

Russ
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Attachment GirlAttachment GirlAdmin
Hi Russ,
Good to hear from you! I wouldn't call my discussion of dreams routine as in I can go a lot of sessions without discussing one, but dreams have been an important resource in my recovery.

When I was first recovering memories of the sexual abuse, they would get communicated through dreams. I've had a number of breakthroughs that consisted of "wow, that was a weird dream" and then while thinking about it making connections and realizing something.

Dreams will also come as a sign of progress, I recently had a dream that was connected to a big breakthrough.

Profoundly uncomfortable

For me, dreams seem to be a way that my unconscious, implicit right brain transmits stuff to my left brain. I think they can provide another important source of information, another one of the puzzle pieces you're trying to put together.

And Happy Holidays to you, Russ!

AG
russrussMember
Thanks for the input, AG. When I read stories like yours it makes me so angry. I wasn't a victim of sexual abuse, but I was a victim of emotional abuse, which has resulted in many of the same things you've experienced, namely extremely low self-esteem and feelings of being unloveable, among other things, including extreme anxiety.

It's good to hear that your dreams have been a good source of information for you. And you're right, it's like putting the pieces of a puzzle together, and it can be very frustrating when so many of the pieces are missing.

Russ
Attachment GirlAttachment GirlAdmin
Russ,
Thank you for being angry about what happened to me. And for the record, I really believe emotional abuse is just as bad or even worse, because it's easier for people to brush off. And I understand all the things you're feeling because I've felt them.

And man, do I remember that feeling of missing so many pieces. But I want to encourage you that there really is another side. As you work through this, and let yourself feel all the emotions about what happened, it really gets better. You learn to make sense of it, like someone keeps handing you more pieces until the puzzle becomes a picture. It can be a difficult, messy, painful process but it's worth it at the end (or as close to the end as I am right now. Smiler Not sure, the jury's still out.)

Hummingbird,
I love the idea of collages, that really does seem like a great way to go beyond words. I tend to overcompensate with my intellect also (something my T tends to point out now and then. Smiler )

quote:
Dreams often gave me insight into how i was feeling but had trouble admiting or verbalising.


That's exactly what I was trying to say, I think your description is perfect.

AG
russrussMember
HB & AG,

Thanks so much for your replies. At first I was pretty dismissive about the content of my dreams, mostly because my recollection of them is so fragmented and - most of all - I had a hard time facing what they represented. But my T said that to ignore our dream-life is to ignore a huge part of our interior life, and ignoring our interior life is sort of like how our parents ignored us as children. He said that to study our interior life is the greatest act of loving ourself. I really like this idea.

I also like the idea of collage work, or any kind of visual art to describe our perception of our lives. I would like to learn more about how people use this in therapy because it makes perfect sense because I find it hard to articulate how I feel much of the time.

Happy Christmas Eve!
Russ

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