We all have dreams from time to time, which are virtually indistinguishable from the real world. These dreams often affect us so deeply that we spend the entire day thinking about them when we wake up, even praying that it’s a dream. Have you ever considered what our brain is trying to tell us with these dreams?
A dream is, among other things, a projection: the externalization of an internal process. It’s a personal document and a reflection. It’s more open and intimate than a diary and “tells everything,” a gateway to the most secret corners of our inner self. (Hall, 1947) Dreams sometimes become images of our happiest memories, our greatest fears, and perhaps even our greatest losses. Our brain tries to speak to us this way; sometimes it asks, “Have we really gotten over this?” and sometimes it asks, “Are you ready to do this?” In this context, we must listen to our unconscious, because dreams are the cries of our unconscious. We must remember that our conscious and unconscious are different parts of a whole. Sometimes, our unexplained emotions, our irrational fears, and any feeling that disturbs us but we can’t understand the reason for may have a meaningful answer in our unconscious. Our dreams are the only place where we can see these reasons in all their nakedness.
Dreams are expressions of an emotional consciousness. (Bucci & et all, 2003) We become much more emotional in dreams, and our brain relates certain events to other things. For example, in emotional symbolism, an argument or debate may appear in a dream as a battle (a defeatist reasoning). (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) We may even dream of a large bomb exploding and causing great damage to the surroundings to describe an event that has deeply distressed and devastated us. Of course, such images can have different meanings for everyone because the brain is a very subjective organ. For example, an image may represent good things for one person while for another it may indicate a deeply distressing trauma. Carl Gustav Jung, in his book on dream analysis, stated that the best interpreter of a dream is the person themselves. (Jung, 1984)
In psychotherapy, dreams can be used to see, understand, and then treat a person’s inner world. Lucid dreams are dreams in which the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming and can control their actions. For these types of dreams, being able to interpret them means being able to influence them, and this ability is often used as a treatment. Lucid dreaming-based therapies have repeatedly been found to be effective in reducing nightmare frequency. (Fogli, Aiello, & Quercia, 2020). Sometimes, therapists ask clients to recall a bad dream and write it down on paper, then imagine the negative themes in a positive way and rewrite them. This method sends a message to our inner world that the bad experiences have been replaced by good ones. Regardless of the approach, these processes are quite lengthy because it takes a long and arduous process for our unconscious to internalize something and begin to believe it. Dreams perhaps contain our most fundamental beliefs and experiences, which is why psychologists who use dream analysis are quite patient in this regard, as dreams are like a translator for understanding a person’s inner world. From this point on, simply understanding the problem isn’t enough; the treatment process begins with the right confrontations and guidance; in other words, understanding dreams is understanding the person. This is only part of the treatment process.
CONCLUSION:
We shouldn’t live unaware of ourselves. If our brain repeatedly brings us to the same point and constantly tries to tell us something through dreams, we should take it into consideration, because we don’t exist solely through our conscious side. Our unconscious mind also lives with us, along with all our past, memories, and childhood. Not ignoring it and listening to it may provide answers to our unanswered questions or help us find our way in a dark moment.
REFERENCES:
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Bucci, W. (1997). Psychoanalysis and cognitive science: A multiple code theory. New York: Guilford Press.
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Fogli, A., Maria Aiello, L., & Quercia, D. (2020). Our dreams, our selves: automatic analysis of dream reports. Royal Society Open Science, 7(8), 192080.
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Hall, C. S. (1947). Diagnosing personality by the analysis of dreams. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 42(1), 68.
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Jung, C. G. (1984). Dream analysis: Notes of the seminar given in 1928–1930 (W. McGuire, Ed.). Princeton University Press.
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Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.