The Importance of Dreams
Dreams often depict, through images and scenes, important thoughts or emotional content that is out of our waking awareness. While they might seem weird or nonsensical, dreams provide meaningful glimpses into aspects of ourselves that can assist our understanding if we attempt to make sense of them. I often invite my patients to share their dreams and to say whatever thoughts, feelings, and connections they have to the dream. Sometimes these impressions relate to a current or past experience in their life. I might also offer my own thoughts and, through this conversation, we often reach a richer understanding of the dream. It can be difficult to remember one’s dreams, so it is not a requirement to remember or discuss any dreams.
What you are feeling during the dream is also helpful information about what the dream might be bringing up. Anxiety, fear, excitement, anger, outrage, guilt, shame, sadness, fun, desire, love and lust are all common feelings that show up in our dreams. The most important thing about working with dreams is that there is not one “right answer” or single correct interpretation. Dreams can have layers of meaning and are best approached with an open mind and some imagination.