[phoenix7]

I was reading Mouse's thread where Mouse talks about a dream that had T in it that helped, I was wondering how many others have/had dreams with T's in it that helped? or any dream that helped - lets not limit the discussion.

I had a dream last night that I had got the results from a test I am having soon and that it was bad news and then I was in my old T's office and he was holding me while I cried - strange because I dont cry and havnt seen my old T for a very long time. But it was very comforting - I suppose the mind gives us what we need to survive

tag you're it!

Last week when I was going through all of the craziness with T and Teacher T, I had a dream. In the dream, I had a female T, but she was more of a friend than a T. In fact, she had left her family and I suspected it was to be with ME and it made me really uncomfortable. At the end of the dream, I was scheduling my next session with her, and I was wondering "what happened to T?" I really wanted HIM to be my T, and I missed his steady, dependable, secure presence.

I woke up and realized that Teacher T really had crossed some boundaries, almost into the realm of "friendship" and I realized that no matter what happened, I could still count on T. And in my dream, I knew how safe and secure I could be with him and his boundaries, and I craved that. When I woke up, it was a combination of an "a-ha" moment about Teacher T and a moment of total trust and connection with T, no matter how angry I was.

I've had quite a few really meaningul and enlightening dreams since starting T, that was just the most recent. A few have really changed the course of therapy, and even of my life in some ways.

Now, when I am having a really hard time with something between me and T, I ask before I go to sleep for a dream that will guide me, and sometimes, I get one.

Cool question, P7 I hope your test turns out okay, by the way

[phoenix7]

(quote earthmama)
I woke up and realized that Teacher T really had crossed some boundaries, almost into the realm of "friendship" and I realized that no matter what happened, I could still count on T. And in my dream, I knew how safe and secure I could be with him and his boundaries, and I craved that. When I woke up, it was a combination of an "a-ha" moment about Teacher T and a moment of total trust and connection with T, no matter how angry I was.

Wow thats great!

I've had quite a few really meaningul and enlightening dreams since starting T, that was just the most recent. A few have really changed the course of therapy, and even of my life in some ways.

Now, when I am having a really hard time with something between me and T, I ask before I go to sleep for a dream that will guide me, and sometimes, I get one.

Im definately going to try that

Cool question, P7 I hope your test turns out okay, by the way

quote]
thanks Earthmama

[chaotic13]

I am not much of a dreamer, usually can't recall them. However, I've had a few crazy, meaningful dreams this past year, I didn't recognize my T in them.

[velcro003]

When I started therapy last january, I definitely started recalling more dreams. They were always so vivid. I did a LOT of crying in my dreams, which is funny to me cuz I hardly ever cry in real life. Other than that, I have yet to find any insight or real meaning to any of them. My T likes me to talk about dreams, but usually when she asks "What do you feel about that?" or "Does that remind you of anything?" I just shrug my shoulders...I don't really think of them as more than what literally happened in the dream.

I tell my T about my dreams fairly often, and I do find it helpful. Sometimes she has good insights, sometimes it's just a way to convey to her things I'm thinking about, that I don't want to or can't talk about directly.

I've never talked to her about a dream about her, though I think I did have one once (anxiety related, missing session times, etc.). I did have another dream once about being lost in a hallway, and she had an interesting interpretation that it was about her since she had just moved offices. So yeah, I think it's a good therapy topic. Also, one time, when I was upset about something, she told me that she had had a dream about me! I still kick myself for not asking more details about it...I think she was just trying to tell me that she thought about me outside of sessions.

[pachyderm]

I have not had any helpful dreams, and the ones I do have I forget almost before I can think about them. Mainly my dreams seem to be created by someone else who has a lot more imagination and knowledge than I have. They have details in them that come from somewhere that I do not understand -- details that I would not have thought of!

[sunrise]

I'm really into my dreams. I can remember them often and in detail. I find them creative and often clever and it makes me smile sometimes to see how the unconscious is framing and picturing things. I see dreams as a "message" from my unconscious to my conscious self. If I don't understand them or forget them, I know that if the message is important, my unconscious will try again to get through to me. I find dreams most useful as a way to know what is going on in my unconscious. Sometimes it precedes by quite a bit those issues becoming manifest in my conscious life. I like to try to bring my conscious into sync with my unconscious.

I had a dream within the last year that was very significant for me and I believe has lead to lasting changes in my life and feeling and thinking and way of being. It was huge. I shared it in therapy with T and something that happened right in his office then played into it. T called it a life-changing experience, and I remember loving that he recognized its significance.

Although T was not in that dream, I have had quite a few dreams that he was part of. Sometimes he is a significant figure and sometimes he is just there, in the background. I take that to mean I have internalized him. I don't always tell him my dreams, but I like when I do and we have time for it. T uses the Gestalt dreamwork approach to help me understand my dreams. I brought T a dream the second time I saw him. And one about him at my 4th session or so. I remember, that one lead to a revelation about what I was looking for in therapy from him. That insight came after we were done with the dreamwork at the end of the session. Great moments.

I am taking some psychoactive drugs right now and I find I don't dream as much with them. That makes me sad, but I'm not ready to give them up yet, even for the sake of dreams.

[coconut64]

I love hearing about other people's dreams and their significance to them because I don't dream much, and when I do it's just nightmares. Apparently my capacity to dream/fantasize/etc... got shut down as a defense mechanism...or so I'm told.

[phoenix7]

coconut64 , I hope that one day you have beautiful happy dreams

Sunrise, I feel the same - if I remember a dream usually its because I have something to learn from it - this time it was just to comfort me - last time it was to show me that i was the problem stoppiung me from progressing further - It would be nice to have the comforting ones more often though

Velcro003 - I dont cry either - do you think that is why we somtimes cry in our dreams - do there what we cannot do in real life?

[Lee ann]

That's funny this thread came up because I just had a dream about my therapist. It's really strange but I remember buying condoms, it was important I had them for some reason, then went to therapy and she was there with all these piles of paper everywhere in this big office but her office is not big and never cluttered. Then I remember telling her that her son (I don't even know if she has kids) has some horrible disease and she started crying and turning red and I remember thinking as I was having this dream "Oh god I hope its not a preminotion" because I get those in my dreams. (I dreamed my neighbor attacked her abusive husband with a hammer and week later she did) Then as she was writing out my appointment card she asked if I wanted this and she showed me a card with those punch holes in them. The last punch you get that item free. I said what was it. She said what I always give you and your family, paint. Then she produced about twenty cards and said that I could have them all. Strange dream, isn't? I felt wow she does have feelings because somtimes I wonder if she does because she's always so neutral looking. I think I've caught my therapist getting ready to cry for a minute in therapy sometimes so maybe I felt there was something that she needs help with. I don't know......

[sittingatwatersedge]

I dreamed of T as a cop who pulled me over (so I thought) for a minor incident, and proceeded to charge me with something very serious indeed, which I knew I hadn't done.

Also I dreamed of T as a prof who was showing me a big chalkboard covered with columns of midrange, 6 digit figures and saying, these are incomes for various jobs, you need to pick one, and I was saying, you gotta be kidding, I can't qualify for anything that pays like that.
I realized that these were alternative life "paths" from the one that has evolved for me through trauma & abuse, and I felt unable to take up any of them.

I don't know about these being helpful dreams... I figured all dreams are helpful to the T, so I told T about them, but she didn't comment a single word. hmmmmm