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"An Exploration: Dream Therapy & You."
I woke up this morning after having had a very interesting dream. I've always thought that Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung's work on Dream Theory was rubbish, given that most of my dreams are silly, but this last one was profound in its realism, and makes me think that they were not just onto something, they were geniuses.
So it's only dreams related to real life (present or past) that matter - not just any random dream. (Flying on the back of a magical hippo in your underpants doesn't count, there's nothing to learn there!). It's got to relate to an incident that you have experienced or are experiencing. A recreation of the event.
A random example: You're at home, in the company of someone you know well. You get into an argument, and it gets vicious, possibly violent. For whatever reason, let's assume that person is no longer in your real life (moved on, deceased, whatever reason applies), so you can't ask them about the incident in reality, therefore pay attention to the dream. It will reveal an extension of their personality, and you may learn a few things about them that you hadn't realised before. It will likely be unpleasant, though very cathartic - because it will give you some understanding and insight on the issue.
Freud and Jung were not the first to come up with Dream Theory, they just made it a proper science. A key example of this was in Ancient Greece: they did their own version of Dream Theory in a place called Epidaurus. There was a temple to the god Asclepius (god of medicine), son of the god Apollo (god of healing in general.) People who required healing went there and slept upon the ground of the temple overnight. Asclepius would 'inspire' them through revelatory dreams, then the priests would help interpret them in the morning. (Oh, and harmless snakes were in the temple as well, because they were symbolic of Asclepius and believed to help promote the dreams. They freely moved around as you slept, including over you.)
Back to the dream. In it, you likely experience it from the perspective of 'first person' (as yourself, seeing through your own eyes) and/or 'third person' (from a distance, watching yourself. 'Second person' is never you.) Either way, you get to experience the incident safely. No matter what happens in the dream, it's not happening in reality, because you are asleep. Because of this, you can witness the incident without being 100% involved in it. If you get injured in the dream, no pain will be felt, for instance. You will likely feel the emotions, but nothing physical. No broken bones, no nothing. You are safe.
When you wake up, you will likely still feel emotions related to the dream: anger, sadness, fear, whatever. During this time, write down as much of the dream as you can remember, while it still lingers. Most dreams we don't remember for more than a few seconds/minutes, but ones like these tend to linger for a little while, because we had so much psychological investment in them. Make sure you write down the parts that are revelatory - that you didn't notice in reality.
Next step. When your emotions are gone and your head is clear (say, the next day or so), go back to your notes and reflect upon them.
🔸️ Some questions to reflect upon:
📍 What did the dream reveal that you didn't experience during the real incident?
📍 What did the dream tell you about how you coped with the incident?
📍 What did the dream tell you about how the other person coped with the incident?
📍 What feelings did the dream evoke while you were asleep?
📍 What feelings did the dream evoke while you were awake? (After the dream happens, there's always a secondary emotion(s) you feel while awake as your brain tries to sort out what to make of it.)
📍 If you witness that you are the one at 'fault' in the dream, can you acknowledge this to yourself? Can you try to understand why it happened, and seek to forgive yourself?
📍 It you witness that it was not you at 'fault', can forgive the other person? (It's okay if you can't, but try to see their motivation: did they react the way they did because of anger? Fear? Guilt/shame? What else?)
📍 It's possible that you are both equally at 'fault'. If that is the case, then perhaps you are looking at a core difference between you, irreconcilable or otherwise. Seeing this, can you forgive your part in it? Can you move on from the situation, with your new knowledge?
📍 Are there any changes you would make to your real life? (This is working under the assumption that you cannot reach the other person, so any changes must be about yourself, not them.)
📍 If you feel you need to change something about yourself personally in reality, do you have any supports who can help you? (Family? Friends? A therapist? A psychiatrist?)
After going through all of that, it's important to acknowledge the hard work you've put into the reflection. (It's not an easy thing to do, and may churn up possible guilt/shame, especially if you feel you are the one at 'fault'.) It is something that will require some self-care. But it is also something worth treating with respect: Celebrate it, if you can, you've earned it.
#Dream #Dreaming #PTSD #Trauma #Therapy #MentalHealth #Journaling #analysis #freud #jung #Grief #Shame #Selfcare #Recovery
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