[InRealLife45]

I had a nightmare and when I woke up I wanted to write it down but I was still sleepy, so I just grabbed my phone and recorded what I could remember from it.

I took the recording in to session with me to share with my T and she wants me to have more insight, but I dunno what there is to understand besides fear of abandonment.

Its 8 minutes total.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/q444i6chkc...t%201.m4a?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oiaals05g8...t%202.m4a?dl=0

Also what dream interpretation books do you guys recommend?

I'm sorry your t was disappointed at your "lack of insight" as you said, I do quite a bit of dream work with my t as I talk about often and there have been dreams that I've read to her, and neither of us have had any immediate insights and we just 'let them be' for a time. She told me a long time ago that sometimes we have to let our dreams work on us, before we're able to see what they're trying to tell us, and I believe that's true.

If it were my dream: I would focus on the stuff being all over the place that I have to clean up, and think about what that "stuff" represents. And the bath - running the water, preparing the bath, but not actually using it, that stands out to me somehow. Seems like there's some good stuff here, even if it was scary.

I liked how you described near the end of part 2 that you wanted to write it down but your eyes were closed and you didn't want to turn on the light to write it down. I'm the same way. I write anyway, even if I can't see, and sometimes find in the morning that I've written one line over another and they're hard to decipher!! Recently, I even wrote one down completely in my sleep and had no memory of doing so the next morning, was surprised to see it there in my notebook. I had even forgotten the dream itself, because I'd had a second one closer to morning.

Books: I don't really use any dream interpretation books anymore, t had a bunch of them and we used to refer to them together early on sometimes when she was here in town. But now that she's like a resident in my psyche (well it feels like that sometimes!) we don't use the books anymore, and toss around our thoughts and between the two of us, come up with some interesting stuff.

One book I highly recommend is not like an A-Z dream interpretation, but it is about working with our dreams - it's called "Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth" by Robert A Johnson. I borrowed it from t a long time ago and bought my own copy soon thereafter. Active Imagination is a technique where you 'go into' a particular dream in your imagination while you're awake, and you interact with the dream. It's your imagination, so you can interact with anything - people, animals, whatever. The very first time I did an active imagination was in t's office and she was just starting to teach me about it - I discovered a natural talent for it that day - I'd had a scary nightmare and sitting on her couch that morning I closed my eyes and imagined myself back in the dream and told her what I saw and it was like I was back in it, although I was awake, so I easily stopped it and opened my eyes when it got scary. Since that first "dream work" session, I have learned SO much about myself by working with my dreams.

Sorry to get carried away. This is one of my most favorite subjects, if you couldn't tell!!

[InRealLife45]

Originally Posted by artemis-within

If it were my dream: I would focus on the stuff being all over the place that I have to clean up, and think about what that "stuff" represents. And the bath - running the water, preparing the bath, but not actually using it, that stands out to me somehow. Seems like there's some good stuff here, even if it was scary.

My t focused on the water too- thats why she got irritated, bc I said it didn't mean anything and she said i wasn't really trying.

I cant keep a dream journal. I've tried.But somehow I never get around to writing it down, I just tell myself "remember to write that down" but by the time I wake up its fading or completely gone. Recording is so much easier. And faster!

I am going to buy that book right now, thank you for suggesting it. And I appreciate the detailed response! thank you!

[InRealLife45]

Originally Posted by artemis-within

One book I highly recommend is not like an A-Z dream interpretation, but it is about working with our dreams - it's called "Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth" by Robert A Johnson.

So, I ordered this book off amazon, and it came yesterday. I have started reading it, and I showed my T and she said she hasn't read it but it looks like a good book.

I hope you get as much out of it as I did! I continue to do Active Imaginations pretty often, I've done some really good work in them from time to time. The last one I did, I fell asleep while I was doing it and dreamed the words to a song that I woke up and wrote down. T was quite impressed that I was given a song. I'm all shoot, you the one who taught me about this! Between my t and that book, I had great teachers!!