[Asiablue]

Are dreams relevant in therapy? Do you discuss yours with T? I've had a few dreams where i'm like woahhhh that was laden with symbolism and conflict. I don't know whether to talk about it in T.

[mixedup_emotions]

Oh yes! I've talked about my dreams in T, and with my T being gestalt-based, it generally leads to a lot of self-discovery. In gestalt therapy, it is believed that each part of the dream symbolizes parts of ourselves. We approach it in different ways in therapy, but the one that comes to mind at the moment is picking a particular object of the dream and giving it a voice....and seeing where that leads. It's definitely worth bringing up!

[ECHOES]

Yes, absolutely. And not just once.
I will be talking about dreams we've already discussed at my next session. My T has been away and during that time these dreams have been on my mind and the metaphors clearer to me. So we'll talk about how I am interpreting them at this time.

In therapy, anything and everything is something to talk about.

[Butterflies Are Free]

Yes, always - I usually write them down, try to interpret them as best I can, and give my T a copy. Dreams can give us a real insight into our deepest fears/feelings.

[elliemay]

I used to think that dreams were just random brain activity firing off when we sleep. That may well be true, but how we interpret that brain activity has been a gold mine in therapy.

In fact, my therapist gets giddy when I have a dream to discuss.

[WikidPissah]

I don't dream, or if I do I can't ever remember dreaming...so they are never discussed.

[Perna]

I always did mine, kept a dream journal too and worked with the "themes" presented, etc. I learned that dreams about my T or my husband were good things; meant whatever issues were being brought up were "safe" to work on because they were there helping :-)

[skysblue]

Yes yes yes yes. Dreams have played a big part in our discussions.

Yes. I always talk about dreams. They are so helpful in my journey through therapy. They give so many messages and cause so many feelings. Dreams are helpful to talk about, I think because they symbolize a lot of things going on currently.

Oh yes, my T LOVES dreams! Whenever I can remember one, I make notes as best I can and bring them in. Since they come from the unconscious, he says it's like talking to another person - I may be saying one thing, but my dreams are saying something else.

We've just started getting into dreams because I've been making a real effort to remember them, and they really are a treasure trove. He is excellent at interpreting them, and it can be very disconcerting to be told some pretty intimate things about yourself. Sometimes I feel like he's climbed inside my head and I want to say, "Wait, this is my space. Not room for two of us in here!!" But I think this is speeding up therapy, so I'm plowing ahead. You might want to try it and see how it goes.

[sunrise]

Yes, I found dreams were a way into my most important issues. It could be easier to bring up a dream in therapy than to raise the issue directly with T. I used this sideways technique a lot in my early days of therapy. Dreams helped me know what was going on inside of me and bring that to my T. My T used Gestalt dream work, and I liked this approach. Now that I am out of that intense therapy phase (weekly meetings, trauma work), I don't bring dreams to T much. I don't dream or remember my dreams as much now. I think a lot of the urgent things my subconscious was trying to tell me got said.

PrettyLB, you said you were having dreams with lots of symbols and conflict. Those sound like really good fodder for therapy. Do you think your T would be open to working on your dreams with you?

[Asiablue]

ok, i think i might bring it up next session. I can see how they might harbour important messages.

[Asiablue]

Originally Posted by sunrise

Yes, I found dreams were a way into my most important issues. It could be easier to bring up a dream in therapy than to raise the issue directly with T. I used this sideways technique a lot in my early days of therapy. Dreams helped me know what was going on inside of me and bring that to my T. My T used Gestalt dream work, and I liked this approach. Now that I am out of that intense therapy phase (weekly meetings, trauma work), I don't bring dreams to T much. I don't dream or remember my dreams as much now. I think a lot of the urgent things my subconscious was trying to tell me got said.

PrettyLB, you said you were having dreams with lots of symbols and conflict. Those sound like really good fodder for therapy. Do you think your T would be open to working on your dreams with you?

I don't know, maybe. We are new to each other. 90% of my dreams have lots of symbols and are very telling of how i feel deep down. I rarely dream about random stuff that maybe i've encountered during the day.

Yep, tell T lots of dreams. My dreams are usually pretty....um...meaningful? at least to me, and in some really weird ways, so I like to get T's thoughts on them-- she seems to think they are important too.

I don't tend to have very deep and meaningful dreams. The only times my dreams come up are when I've dreamt something bad about T, and I tell her in order to do some reality checking e.g. "In my dream you went on holiday and never came back... You're not going to do that, are you?"

I have been slightly wary of my dreams since the age of 14 when I dreamt that my grandmother was dying in the moment that she died. It wasn't totally random- I knew that she was very ill etc- but I do feel the need to check things out after particularly strong dreams.

[with or without you]

often. I recently had a weird dream that involved T having a tattoo all over her face. She thought it was really interesting...we talked about various interpretations!