I've heard Ts have two different ways to interpret fantasys/day dreams.

Sometimes I hear Ts say (either my own or people talk about it on PC) that dreams and fantasy's usually are not the way a person would normally act.. like if you are a certain way in a dream you are probably the opposite in real life...

Sometimes I hear Ts say that dreams and fantasies are your way of trying to work out/deal with/subconscious reveal something that happened in real life.... like you may have been treated badly by someone in your life and you have fantasies or dreams of others treating you this way. too..

What does your T say about your dreams and fantasies? is it a way of working out something that happened in real life? or is it that you are acting out a way that you couldn't/wouldn't be in real life? or are there other interpretations...

Hmm. I don't know - my T has not really offered interpretations of those dreams I've told him, but from those comments he has made I think he'd probably lean more towards the second version, that it's about things in real life that we are trying to resolve. Though that could also be done by trying on a different role or persona, not like our real-life selves, couldn't it? So maybe a bit of both?

[seventyeight]

my therapist has a different way of interpreting dreams (and one that i find frustrating). she takes a very subjective approach to dream interpretation, that of Carl Jung I believe:

Jung proposed two basic approaches to analyzing dream material: the objective and the subjective. In the objective approach, every person in the dream refers to the person they are: mother is mother, girlfriend is girlfriend, etc. In the subjective approach, every person in the dream represents an aspect of the dreamer. Jung argued that the subjective approach is much more difficult for the dreamer to accept, but that in most good dream-work, the dreamer will come to recognize that the dream characters can represent an unacknowledged aspect of the dreamer. Thus, if the dreamer is being chased by a crazed killer, the dreamer may come eventually to recognize his own homicidal impulses. Gestalt therapists extended the subjective approach, claiming that even the inanimate objects in a dream can represent aspects of the dreamer.

so if i tell her i had a dream about running away from my mom for instance, she would say that i'm running away from the "part of me that is represented by my mom." i don't find this approach very helpful, as i think if i'm running away from my mom then i should explore the part of me that might be afraid of my mom, or wants to detach from my mom, or is afraid of my mom running away from me, etc.

My T would lean on the second definition. He thinks things in dreams symbolize thing in your life.

[mixedup_emotions]

My T follows the idea that seventyeight mentioned. He believes that each aspect of the dream represents a part of ourselves - animate or inanimate.

When sharing a dream with him, he usually tells me to pick one object - any object - and then we focus in on that object - give it a color, a feeling, try to share what that object would say, etc. It tends to lead to some very telling information.

Many times, I've had some horrific nightmares - and after exploring the meaning behind it, the nightmare dissipates...and usually the meaning has little to do with the awfulness of the nightmare.

[CantExplain]

Originally Posted by seventyeight

Jung proposed two basic approaches to analyzing dream material: the objective and the subjective.

That's interesting, because my view doesn't match either of them!

I believe that people in dreams represent real people, but usually not themselves.

So the girlfriend in the dream might really be the mother, etc.

[critterlady]

Hmm, I don't know how T sees dreams. We've never actually talked about any. I tend not to remember them these days.

My previous T leaned toward the second view. There was a period where I had a lot of dreams about dying and his perception was that they were more about my anxiety and my mother's terminal illness than anything else.

[ECHOES]

My T and I interpret my dreams in the context of me, and of any fears and wishes and worries that might be revealed in them.

I see a jungian t, and dream work is a big part of my therapy. I've had a very active dream life my entire life, starting with night terrors as a baby where my mom would find me standing up in my crib screaming in terror my eyes wide open but obviously not seeing anything. those went away thank goodness, but I've had very very vivid nightmares and dreams both all the way along. Iv'e always thought they were for SOMEthing. And when I found out my t specialized in dream work, well woot! The way my t explains it, is that what we dream, is our psyche trying to tell us something, but it's not as simple as say, reading a book, the psyche speaks through our dreams in a symbolic language. I love love love love doing dream work!