[growlycat]

What is your t"s take on dreams and talking about dreams? I know some of you talk about it in almost a spiritual way. Would like to hear all approaches.

My old psychodynamic t was great working with dreams and treated them like messages from the subconscious. I don't know what my t now will do. He is dbt and cbt and a little eclectic but no psychodynamic training.

I had a dream that has stuck with me this week and it feels important but I feel a little embarrassed bringing it up. It may be about my t "Kashi". Or it could be about a friend who passed away a decade ago. If I were a spiritual person it's the kind of dream that seems like a message beyond the grave. But I don't believe in that stuff.

Thoughts on how you work with dreams?

Well I work with both jungian and gestalt way with dreams and they both believe that dreams are a message to you and only you.
Both theories believe that everyone who was in your dream represent a part of you.
Was there any archetypes in your dream, if so Jung believes these dreams are really important and they are really trying to tell you something. Are you familiar with Archetypes, they are very powerful in dreams and only come along once in while.
It sounds like this dream is very important if it's stuck with you. Can you remember the feeling in the dream or after the dream, when you woke up? This can be important too. I think asking Kashi to look at it could be very useful no matter what his way of working with dreams are. Sometimes it's important to just say them to somebody. In gestalt we ask the client to close their eyes and tell the dream as if it's happening, this gives a good indicator of the feelings and the emotions in the dream. We then ask them to speak as the different parts or people as the dream and this can help with what the dream was trying to tell us and then you speak to the different parts, meaning you get all of your fear, anger, sadness out at the dream and the people in it.

[ElectricManatee]

I'm usually self-conscious about telling my T about my dreams, but I have done it a few times. She has welcomed conversations about my dreams, but I don't think she puts a lot of stock into symbolism or anything. It has been useful to talk about how the dream felt and what it meant to me, and my T has offered suggestions about why I might be dreaming about a particular person or thing, based on what's going on in my life at the time. I can think of one concept in particular that was important for me to discuss that came out in a dream context long before I would have felt comfortable addressing it directly. So that separation of dreams being about my life but not part of my life has been useful for me.

Bottom line is that anything that's sticking in your head is probably worth talking about.

[CantExplain]

I don't recall talking to any of my Ts about dreams.

[Anastasia~]

My T usually doesn't analyze them for me, maybe a few exceptions, but will say, you might want to pay attention to what your dream is saying. Dreams are fascinating to me. I had a dream where I was driving down a road with my stepdad and all of a sudden a tornado was coming our way. We got out of the car and ran into a hotel and that was it. My other tornado dream was of me running fast toward my h ome with a tornado behind me. I ran up to my childhood home and there was a tall fence in front of it. The dream ended with me holding tight onto the fence. I suppose the dream meant that I was having a majorly emotional time, and I was. Interesting.

[awkwardlyyours]

I had one T more than 10 years ago who did the symbolism stuff.

Current T -- I've told her one dream (it was about former T) and she didn't analyze it (don't think she'd know how) but asked me about the emotions I felt around what happened in the dream.

Former T -- I'd told her about some recurring nightmares and again, she asked me about the emotions related to them.

So, neither seemed big on analyzing the content.

Then again, it could be because I have a hard time feeling emotions in general and so, the dream stuff may be important to just let that stuff out than anything else.

[atisketatasket]

None of mine do the analysis of dreams stuff. I think this is good because that tends to assume dreams can be interpreted into one meaning, and they really can't. Could mean this, could mean that, neither client nor therapist can say definitively.

So basically I may note I had a dream, especially if it is recurring or has a recurring theme and they and I see it more as indicative of my mental or emotional state.

I like the question AY's therapists' asked about the emotions associated with the events of the dream. That seems a lot more useful than analyzing the content to me.

[Out There]

I don't often remember my dreams but do talk to my T about them when I do. And I had two lucid dreams and which is a really strange experience. We'll talk about the content and the feelings - the last one I remembered was very complex. I do like to work on them and what they represent and what they're trying to tell us with their themes and symbols. I guess dream work is not everyone's cup of tea but I would feel like it's shutting out the subconscious messages which are important. And I'm a Jung fan anyway.!

[StickyTwig]

It may be worth talking to T about a boring, seemingly meaningless dream first just to see how he will deal with it. That will help decide whether you want to bring up the important sounding one.

Mine is surprisingly good at talking about dreams and has some interesting insights, took me a bit by surprise as I doubt its covered by training much.

[ruh roh]

Mine doesn't really do much around this, and that's fine. I have shared dreams with her, but any talk or analysis of them is minimal, nothing like when I saw Jungian analysts where it was the stuff of therapy.

[nottrustin]

Typically I don't remember dream. Usually the only I do it is a nightmare. I have discussed them. Normalize but we discuss them as they usually are somehow connected to my abuse.

[growlycat]

I might give it s try--talking to t about the dream.

How the dream made me feel--- hard to pin down but I remember being in a crowded place and panicking that the only person I knew was a famous indie pop person who was going to perform. In the dream I knew the celebrity not personally but through music but was still the only person among thousands that I felt familiar with.

Funny thing is, this musician I associate with a friend that passed away ten years ago. This celebrity also happens to be bisexual but denies labels. My t is bisexual may the dream is about him or my dead friend or about feeling isolated in a crowd.

What is the archetype of the Celebrity...a narcissist?

[awkwardlyyours]

Originally Posted by growlycat

I might give it s try--talking to t about the dream.

How the dream made me feel--- hard to pin down but I remember being in a crowded place and panicking that the only person I knew was a famous indie pop person who was going to perform. In the dream I knew the celebrity not personally but through music but was still the only person among thousands that I felt familiar with.

Funny thing is, this musician I associate with a friend that passed away ten years ago. This celebrity also happens to be bisexual but denies labels. My t is bisexual may the dream is about him or my dead friend or about feeling isolated in a crowd.

What is the archetype of the Celebrity...a narcissist?

(Total nonsense from someone who doesn't have the faintest clue about dream analysis) --

You're panicked about not being known some place you are. The person who "knows" you is a musician -- typically, a group that flouts conventional norms (although I'd say it's almost blase these days to be bisexual -- I feel like straight will soon be the new cool thing at this rate).

Your sense is that you're getting 'lost' / not getting picked out in a crowd and not understood/known and your only recourse is possibly having someone who has way too many other things grabbing their attention (musician with adoring fans) and who may or may not have the capacity to pick you out in a crowd and 'know' you?

I dunno if any of those concerns are necessarily only applicable to your relationship with Kashi? I mean, sure he's bisexual but he's been in a hetero marriage forever and ever? But yeah, how you feel about it all is what matters (or so my Ts would say).

[Out There]

Wow , that's a good analysis ! I'm tempted to ask for your interpretation'of phallic cupcakes in my dream but I don't want to highjack Growly's thread ! Actually there are good interpretation of dreams by Thunder bow over in the dream section.

[awkwardlyyours]

Originally Posted by Out There

Wow , that's a good analysis ! I'm tempted to ask for your interpretation'of phallic cupcakes in my dream but I don't want to highjack Growly's thread ! Actually there are good interpretation of dreams by Thunder bow over in the dream section.

I think, in this case, pictures would greatly enhance (really, no puns intended) my capacity for insightful analysis.

[atisketatasket]

I'm getting envious of other people's dreams. Mine tend to be extremely straightforward. Like, a three-year-old could interpret them. And most of the time they just mimic or repeat my real life.

My dreams tend to remind me of the episode of "Murphy Brown" (no judging!) where Jim finally has a dream and all it is is he goes into a shoe store and buys a pair of shoes.

[Out There]

Close but no cigar.....

[awkwardlyyours]

Originally Posted by Out There

Close but no cigar.....

The hot pink is..................distracting.

[growlycat]

Originally Posted by awkwardlyyours

(Total nonsense from someone who doesn't have the faintest clue about dream analysis) --

You're panicked about not being known some place you are. The person who "knows" you is a musician -- typically, a group that flouts conventional norms (although I'd say it's almost blase these days to be bisexual -- I feel like straight will soon be the new cool thing at this rate).

Your sense is that you're getting 'lost' / not getting picked out in a crowd and not understood/known and your only recourse is possibly having someone who has way too many other things grabbing their attention (musician with adoring fans) and who may or may not have the capacity to pick you out in a crowd and 'know' you?

I dunno if any of those concerns are necessarily only applicable to your relationship with Kashi? I mean, sure he's bisexual but he's been in a hetero marriage forever and ever? But yeah, how you feel about it all is what matters (or so my Ts would say).

Thank you!!! Great interpretation. I do worry sometimes about sharing him with so many clients and people in his own life I still don't have a lot of social contacts where I am either. Kashi feels my only friend and we can't truly be friends because he is my t.

I'm going to re read your post!! Thank you!!

[growlycat]

Btw pass me a cupcake

[growlycat]

Ok I talked to Kashi about the dream. There was a part of the dream where a store owner owner banged on the windows to get people away from his shop. The people outside ignored him. Kashi thinks this part is about me warning me family about how dangerous and deadly my mom ms alcoholic dementia is and how they are not listening. Kashi was oddly not aware of the singer. As he and I are generationally similar. But he did immeadiately google him to see what he looked like. I consider this person attractive yet Kashi merely called him interesting looking. To each his own. To those wondering why I'm being coy about the celebrity. I can see Kashi reading up on this so to all you 80s indie pop people it's the lead singer for the Smiths who went onto his own solo career. Kashi is nothing like him. No mopiness or big ego.

But Kashi takes a jungian approach to dreams and seems to enjoy them. He was eager to hear the dream.

[awkwardlyyours]

Originally Posted by growlycat

Ok I talked to Kashi about the dream. There was a part of the dream where a store owner owner banged on the windows to get people away from his shop. The people outside ignored him. Kashi thinks this part is about me warning me family about how dangerous and deadly my mom ms alcoholic dementia is and how they are not listening. Kashi was oddly not aware of the singer. As he and I are generationally similar. But he did immeadiately google him to see what he looked like. I consider this person attractive yet Kashi merely called him interesting looking. To each his own. To those wondering why I'm being coy about the celebrity. I can see Kashi reading up on this so to all you 80s indie pop people it's the lead singer for the Smiths who went onto his own solo career. Kashi is nothing like him. No mopiness or big ego.

But Kashi takes a jungian approach to dreams and seems to enjoy them. He was eager to hear the dream.

Wikipedia says chappie had a relationship with.............."Gelato".

(The singer and not Kashi -- I don't know who Kashi may have had a relationship with).

I think that calls a lot more than mere sexuality into question, no?

P.S. I'll stop being facetious right about here -- glad Kashi was helpful and enthusiastic!

P.P.S. Are you trying to figure out if you and Kashi are likely to hit on the same sorts of guys? That would be............ooooooooooooooh.

[growlycat]

Haha the thought crossed my mind if our tastes overlap at all. Very surprised if he was partying in the 80s that he is unfamiliar with the Moz. He didn't see a connection to himself in the dream. Or even my friend. Maybe the need and search for connection

Yeah I read the gelato thing on Wikipedia too. Hopefully there is love for everyone. Maybe me too who knows

[atisketatasket]

Okay, AY, dream interpreter extraordinaire - here's my dream from last night.

I got an email from a lawyer whom I didn't know but whose wife had just died with a legal document attached listing the top five people whom he wanted to be the guardian for his toddler daughter if something happened to him. No. 5 of 5 on the list was CW, because she had excellent taste in toys (nb: there are no toys in her office). I knew no one else on the list.

My chief emotion in the dream and when I woke up was extreme puzzlement.

My interpretation is that my subconscious thinks that even though CW is not top-notch, it still might be worth keeping her around. Or she's just playing games with me.

Some day I'd like a dream with a phallic cupcake in it.

[awkwardlyyours]

Originally Posted by atisketatasket

Okay, AY, dream interpreter extraordinaire - here's my dream from last night.

I got an email from a lawyer whom I didn't know but whose wife had just died with a legal document attached listing the top five people whom he wanted to be the guardian for his toddler daughter if something happened to him. No. 5 of 5 on the list was CW, because she had excellent taste in toys (nb: there are no toys in her office). I knew no one else on the list.

My chief emotion in the dream and when I woke up was extreme puzzlement.

My interpretation is that my subconscious thinks that even though CW is not top-notch, it still might be worth keeping her around. Or she's just playing games with me.

Some day I'd like a dream with a phallic cupcake in it.

Oh, this so much fun (spouting nonsense that is!) --

Lawyer (vs. anyone else) sending that list with CW = going by the book / some sort of 'this is what authority would have you believe' kinda thing.

Taking care of the kid and the toys and CW's office having no toys and your puzzlement -- would formal / textbook knowledge / authority say that CW is the right person / best equipped to help you tackle stuff related to your childhood and / or your mother? And, perhaps that's what your puzzlement / indecision indicates? You don't "feel" / "see" she's the right person -- based on your interactions with her -- but perhaps you think that in terms of formal knowledge (or qualifications -- dunno what hers are) etc, she would be considered the better person?

I too want to dream of phallic cupcakes but since OT's laid claim on the hot pink, I am calling dibs on fluorescent green or orange (I'm flexible).