Most people have a handful of dreams during the night, usually lasting from 5 – 30 mins each. Dreams mostly occur during the lighter REM sleep stage, and whilst we may recall some dreams, we forget most of them altogether within minutes of them being over. Dreams that are remembered can be happy, funny, romantic, sad, scary or strange & confusing.
There are a few different schools of thought on what dreams actually are and why we have them.
Some state that dreams are merely a series of hallucinations produced by certain chemicals as the brain works to rebalance while we rest. Some say that dreams are a mixture of memories and thoughts that are randomly scrambled in the brain, then as we sleep we undergo a process of tidying and storing these. Some add that dreams are a healthy way of our subconscious mind processing information in respect of healing and/or preparing our conscious mind for the next days ahead. The famous psychologist Sigmund Freud theorised that dreams were a way for us to begin to gradually release supressed emotions and underlying desires that were ‘unacceptable’ to be consciously expressed in the waking state.
Bad dreams have been associated to some psychological conditions such as anxiety, depression and also Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Some of the medication related to these conditions seem to heighten dream activity. It has also been found that people with sleep quality issues (insomnia) are likely to experience more vivid recollection of dreams.
When we do recall a dream it can be categorised into the following:
Logical – a seemingly realistic experience that makes logical sense
Illogical – a seemingly realistic experience that makes no logical sense
Bizarre – an unrealistic experience that is so strange that it is considered bizarre
Recurring – a repeated dream experienced & recalled multiple times
Nightmare – a dream that is horrific and/or scary
Here is a list of the most common reported concepts of dreams:
- Falling
- Being chased
- Being late
- School (test)
- Dreaming of a live person being dead
- Dreaming of a dead person being alive
- Physical attack
- Sexual activity
- Aggression & conflict
- Failure & helplessness
How do you work with dreams?
Since the turn of the 1900’s dreams have often been used in psychotherapy. Pioneered by Sigmund Freud and later popularised by Carl Jung and Alfred Alder. Although these theories may now seem aged, there is strong evidence that dream work can provide valuable insight and positive assistance to clients.
Dream work can be categorised into a few different scopes of work as follows:
- Working to explore dreams for helpful messages relevant to current life
- Working to end a recurring dream
- Working to eliminate nightmares
Some people believe that their dreams hold messages that can provide valuable insight and advise them in their current life. This may be in relation to increasing self-awareness, problem solving or in helping with decision making around issues like career or relationships. Sometimes it is considered that dreams may be uncovering supressed emotions to past or current events, or acting out anxieties related to the future. It is often helpful to the dreamer to have a safe space in which to consciously process these possibilities.
In this type of dream work I help the client to facilitate the exploration of their dreams and make sense of the messages delivered, including coaching them with any actions that are planned as a result of their learning and understanding.
Some people experience continued recurring dreams that can be annoying or even disturbing. In my work with this type of dream we work subconsciously to ‘finish’ the dream, which often helps to eliminate the same dream from recurring.
Nightmares are dreams with unpleasant content, often horrific and frightening. In working with nightmares, I use an integrated approach of the above to see if there is a hidden message trying to be delivered, and also work to finish or change the dream in order that it can be eliminated from further experience. This has been especially successful with victims of abuse and/or trauma who have been suffering from nightmares.
Many books have been written on dream interpretation. Whereas these are interesting, I feel that they are simply generalised and do not qualify as helpful due to each person’s dream being unique to themselves and their life. Therefore, I do not offer opinionated dream interpretation – I offer a safe space with the professional guidance and facilitation for the client to explore and interpret their dreams themselves. Coaching can help further in bringing these findings into daily life and constructing positive actions to help improve the client’s life accordingly.
If you would like to engage in dream work to help you receive important guidance in your life, I can help to facilitate that. Likewise, if you are experiencing recurring dreams or indeed unpleasant nightmares and would like to discuss on how I can help you with those, please connect with me.