[Asiablue]

Does anyone have a Gestalt Therapist or been to one in the past? I am considering this for help with really bad dreams that i don't understand.

Has anyone spoke to their T's about their dreams and been able to work them out?

[mixedup_emotions]

My T is gestalt based, and we have talked about some dreams. In gestalt therapy, as I understand it, each object (animate or inanimate) represents a part of ourselves. We've done some interesting exercises and we were able to make meaning of them.

[Asiablue]

i'm at the stage where i really need help with mine. They've become very frequent and very disturbing.

[lostmyway21]

Mine is CBT but he has a slight mix of psychodynamic that he never showed until... I brought up bad dreams a couple of times. He worked out the meaning of why I was having them. He explains the meaning pretty well and puts my mind at ease. Whenever I tell him I'm having them he always asks what there about and asks why I think I'm having them. Then he explains to me what he thinks the reason is.

[Asiablue]

and Lost, did you find that by working out their meaning that you got them less?

[lostmyway21]

Normally just by saying hey T....I'm having bad nightmares about xyz, and him listening and reasuring me that its okay, makes me feel much better. They usually will subside once he reminds me that it's just my mind trying to process, and things are safe.

My nightmares flare up depending on what I'm talking about in therapy. Every time.

[mixedup_emotions]

I know that when I've shared some horrific dreams with T - and we worked towards understanding them - they've lessened. Some have dissipated altogether. And the weirdest part was that the horrible stuff in the dreams weren't really the focus of what they ultimately meant.

My T has been practicing for 30 years, and he's very eclectic. I never know what modality he's using, and honestly, I don't care. We do a lot of dream work, and I've been kind of blown away by how closely my dreams follow what I'm really feeling inside. His first question in a session is usually, "Have you had any dreams?" With his help, I've gotten better at interpreting my dreams. They really are a help to understanding what's going on with me, deep in my unconscious. My dreams either clarify what I'm already conscious of, or help me to understand what's going on in my unconscious mind. My T believes that we are ruled by our unconscious mind, so analyzing what my dreams mean has been really helpful. It's not always what i want to hear, but knowing where my unconscious mind is at really helps. Especially when I don't understand them myselrf, revealing them in T helps him to understand what's going on with me, so he can help me, even if the meanng isn't clear to me. Whatever ... the whole purpose is him helping me to understand myself.

[KazzaX]

When I was with the psychotherapist a few years back she did "Dream work". In the end I realised that its a lot like tarot and talking to a psychic... what comes out is very general and can apply to anything. You know how you go to a psychic and they give you a general answer like "you will come across a positivity in the next week" and it could apply to anything whatsoever (so you say "ohh she was right" and still pay her even though its a totally bogus "reading") ? Dream work is a bit like that. So I stopped doing it, lol.

[Asiablue]

[QUOTE=mixedup_emotions;2595983]I know that when I've shared some horrific dreams with T - and we worked towards understanding them - they've lessened. Some have dissipated altogether. And the weirdest part was that the horrible stuff in the dreams weren't really the focus of what they ultimately meant.[/QUOTE

That's really interesting. i'm def going to look into this.

[Asiablue]

Originally Posted by KazzaX

When I was with the psychotherapist a few years back she did "Dream work". In the end I realised that its a lot like tarot and talking to a psychic... what comes out is very general and can apply to anything. You know how you go to a psychic and they give you a general answer like "you will come across a positivity in the next week" and it could apply to anything whatsoever (so you say "ohh she was right" and still pay her even though its a totally bogus "reading") ? Dream work is a bit like that. So I stopped doing it, lol.

HATE psychics lol