While some neuroscientists discount the importance of dreams as anything more than noise in an imperfect processing system, many psychologists continue to trust their usefulness in unraveling human motivations and defenses. Freud's described dreams as the "royal road to the unconscious," camouflaging unacceptable impulses in a repressive Victorian society. He believed dreams express our deepest and often socially unacceptable wishes and, therefore, need to be disguised. In his groundbreaking book, "The Interpretation of dreams," Freud interpreted his own dreams. To this end, numerous self-styled experts in print and on-line offer to help you interpret so-called "universal symbols." These meanings are usually of dubious value. It is our associations to dream symbols and metaphors that are most important, not the symbols themselves.Many psychotherapists find dream interpretation useful in guiding a patient toward greater self-awareness. Dreams involve processes of symbolization and condensation of ideas. One image may have multiple meanings. Metaphors and slang expresions may be transformed into visual images based upon memories and associations. To derive meaning these images need to be unscrambled. An creative lay person can trace his associations to the dream images. Since dreams meanings are personal, only you can interpret your own dreams, although therapists can help.
Deriving meaning from dreams requires three steps: collection, recording, and analysis. Because we forget dreams almost immediately it is important to rehearse them upon awakening or, better yet, write them down. Some people keep a pad and pencil by their bed. Even then, we usually remember only a fragment of the dream and that which occurred just before awakening. After recording the dream sequence it is helpful to make a chart with four columns. First give the dream a title, e.g., "Lost in a strange city." The first column is for listing each visual image , e.g., "a hairy gorilla." The second briefly summarizes the action taking place, "I am being chased." The third column is reserved for associations to the image and action. Often an insignificant incident during the day forms the nucleus of the dream. But there may be other associations that contribute meaning. A dream can have multiple meanings ("Freud called this "overdetermined" ). The fourth column is used for the emotions that occurred during the dream. Often the emotions seem inappropriate to the image but relate to an association to that image. That will help in understanding the underling meaning. Assume that all the parts of the dream are connected and condensed. A woman dreamed she was on an "expressolator." She was thinking of an earlier incident running up an escalator because she was late for a date. The word "late" had two meanings. Some dreams may indeed be "noise "and have no meaning. Others can lead to insights that suggest actions to be taken in waking life.
In the novel "Shrink: Odyssey of a Therapist" (Eloquent Books) by this author, Morrie Schwartz, a psychotherapist, treats a criminal psychopath. Interpretation of the patient's dreams, as well as those of the therapist, are a central aspect in this psychological thriller. In a sequel, "Finding Jackson," (PublishAmerica) Schwartz is confronted with a patient presenting intractable pain in his arm. The patient reveals himself to be a reincarnated Stonewall Jackson, Civil War hero. Both novels are available from Amazon Books. Blog:http://www.psychwriter-psychwrite.blogspot.com. Web site: http://www.rosenshrinksite.com. Marvin Rosen, Ph.D. maintains a private practice of Psychology in Chester Springs, PA Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marvin_Rosen |
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