Psychotherapy in Orange County

What is a Dream?

We all dream. Every night as we dim the light of consciousness we enter the realm of the dream. In this dream state our imagination runs free with little or no interference from our conscious mind. In the morning, when we wake and return to consciousness, we may bring with us a recollection of the wanderings of our imagination we remember the dream.To dream is natural; it is a universal experience. How we regard the dream, however, varies from culture to culture and from person to person. Unfortunately most of us fail to remember them. Even if we do remember a dream it is typically dismissed as meaningless and unimportant. For those of us who do place an importance on the dream it still remains a mystery. So what is a dream?

Dreams - God's forgotten language

Originally the dream was held to be the voice of God. Most indigenous cultures hold that the dream is sent by the Great Spirit and serves to offer advice and instruction. This idea of the divinity of the dream can also to be found in the ancient Egyptian and Greek cultures. In the Middle East the dream was considered to be a source of divine inspiration. Mohammed, the founding Prophet of Islam, is said to have received much of what is written in the Koran through his dreams.

The Rediscovery of the Dream

In the early part of this century, two great psychologists, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, rediscovered the value of the dream. For Freud the dream revealed what the dreamer would rather keep hidden. By exploring the dream one was forced to face what was suppressed and rejected within oneself. Jung had another theory. Jung felt that the dream acted as a mirror for the ego - revealing that which was missing from the consciousness of the dreamer. For Jung the dream acted as a teacher and guide on the road toward wholeness. With the work of both Jung and Freud the dream regained its status as a source of wisdom and healing. The dream acted in such a way as to amend a lop-sided or partial perspective on life. A series of dreams would develop, balance and refine the conscious awareness of the dreamer. Jung had rediscovered the age-old wisdom of the dream and its capacity to heal and make whole. Apart from healing, the dreams also seemed to be encouraging and actively participating in the growth and development of the personality. Jung termed this inherent drive of the psyche as the force of individuation, the force by which we become whole and indivisible.

Jungian Dream Interpretation

Since dreams are a way of communicating with the unconscious, Jung believed that dream images reveal something about yourself, your relationships with others, and situations in your waking life. Dreams guide your personal growth and help in achieving your full potential. Jung also believes that the dream's manifest content is just as significant and revealing as the latent content. By simply discussing what is currently going on in your life, it can help you interpret and unlock the cryptic images of your dreams. Jung?s method of dream interpretation is placed more confidently on the dreamer. He believes that you all possess the necessary tools to interpret your own dreams. There is no one correct way to interpret a dream. The meaning of your dreams is a personal judgment and is up to you on how to interpret them. Whatever interpretation feels right to you is most significant and more important than what someone else thinks or believes. Dreams put us in touch with our selves and smooth our passage throughout life. The dream serves as a bridge between the conscious and unconscious mind. For the dream belongs to the twilight zone of consciousness - where the ego and the unconscious meet. The conscious element of the dream lies in its remembrance, the unconscious element lies in its mystery and perplexity. Half conscious, half unconscious, the dream unites the known and the unknown. To listen to the dream is to listen to the unconscious. Through doing so one relieves the need for the unconscious to force itself. Other people in your dreams are parts of your own personality. Depending on the way you characterize this friend, he or she will have a meaning or another. Let?s suppose that he or she was a liar. Therefore, they represent your own tendency to lie. If your friend is characterized by a positive attitude, this means that he or she represents a positive part of your personality and so. I will post how to interpret your own dream next time:D