BBC Program About Therapist Dreams

I didn't hear this but my wife did. Apparently therapists dream about their patients all the time: 80% is the figure they gave. The relationship is just as intense on the T side as it is on ours, but for some reason they think it is bad practice to let on.

Wow. Imma ask my t about this, she's super big on dreams and dream work, so it would be interesting to know if she dreams about her clients. I guess I can't ask about any other ones, but it would be interesting to know if she's dreamed about me ever. She probably wouldn't tell me, but.... I think I'll ask anyway!!

That doesn't surprise me. I dream about my students constantly. My sister used to talk about dreaming about her radiotherapy patients all the time. Probably a common phenomena for those in helping professions. We invest much more than our time. We take our clientele "home" with us in many ways.

True, and those dreams can be very informative if the therapists uses his/her intuition well.
I wasn't aware of the percentage of therapists who dream about their clients. I find it encouraging that it's so high.

I rarely dream about students or clients. I have had the not being able to find my classroom dreams in the fall as school starts and I can still have the failed the bar dreams years after I passed them all.(I do not plan on ever taking another bar exam). But I cannot recall dreaming about students in general or any of them specifically or clients either. I dream about my job but not in relation to the students or clients.
But in my therapy dreams, the therapist does not specifically show up either. When I have therapy dreams, the therapist is either missing for some reason or not the right one - which we discover in the dream together - that I am not the right client even after we have been meeting for an hour or so.

I would love to know if my T has dreamed about me but I'm afraid to ask in case he says no.

My psychologist told me recently that he wakes at 2am and thinks about his clients. He told me that it sometimes keeps him awake. I was really surprised and couldn't help but asked if I ever keep him awake. He just looked at me silently and I knew it was a yes but he didn't want to admit it openly. I felt kind of privileged yet a bit ashamed that I could do such a thing to this wonderful man.

These dreams are the worst. I experience them most frequently when I have breaks from school.

I would be interested to ask my T about this but I'm not sure she'd entertain the conversation...Mostly because I don't think she is one who often remembers her dreams.
I have only had two dreams about my T and one of them was last night! There was a scheduling mishap and people in the office and my T were telling me I had missed my appointment, but I had a card to prove I came at the right time. She was super mean about the situation and I left feeling so bad. I don't know why, since she is never mean in reality.
In another dream we were in a "black abyss" (no room, just darkness around us) but we were illuminated. We were sitting in chairs across from one another and I was crying and asked her something. She sat there blankly and stared at me the entire time. Apparently when someone is silent in a dream it represents one's skepticism about the person and wavering trust in them. You are still trying to "figure them out". I found that interesting.

i'm listening to what I think is the segment now ... very small sample of therapists surveyed though and it mentions 9 out of 13 therapists dreaming about their clients over a 1-3 year period; and of that about 6% of their dreams were about their clients

BBC World Service -Therapists? dreams

one reason given for not telling clients is they thought it might be creepy for the client

this article is also based on the research mentioned on the program

What happens when therapists dream about their clients?

the article also mentions they were student psychotherapists which might also impact the results

I don't know where my wife got that 80% from, then.

I'm always surprised when T says stuff like "I was thinking of you/your issue the other day…"

I don't expect them to think of me outside the office, but it is a nice surprise to be thought about. A dream takes that to another level.

W's therapist often says, "I've been thinking about you". W interprets this to mean, "I took up your case with my supervisor."

lol that made me laugh!! A girl can wish, right?

I have seen two of my patients in a dream but i often see nightmares about hospital where i work and there are patients who dont exsist in reality.
Interesting, i never thought that t dreams about their patients, i think that there are people who dont see any dreams or cant remember this. I asked my t has he ever see me in his dreams but he didnt tell me yet.

I have had similar dreams. Can't find the room, can't get them to stop talking, or - my least favorite - I am naked and can't find clothes before the students start piling in.

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I think we dream about whatever we are intensely connected with; I always have "work" dreams when I start a job or start learning a new subject, etc. I've been working the last 3-4 weeks on a major school project and dreaming about databases every night because that's all I've been doing all day, data entry

I guess I'm weird. I never have work or school dreams. I have dreams about friends being hurt or family, or monsters or other things coming to get me. But nothing mundane or normal.

Most of my dreams take place in my childhood home. Even when T is in my dreams, it can take place there. I wouldn't be able to ask my T if he has ever dreamed about me unless it came about somewhere naturally in our conversation. I can't see that happening. He has told me he was thinking about me though....I was a bit taken aback. I don't want to cause him any trouble.

I very rarely dream . my T does not think this is true because i often wake up in a panic and with my mind racing a lot but not about anything that makes any sense . I am often confused. she says it is because I am dreaming and I don't want to or am not ready to remember the dream. I just don't think I dream very often

this is not to say that I have not had some very bad dreams I remember . just not often and most bad ones for some reason involve my son dying at a young age