2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43
When a client brings a dream to therapy, it is always difficult to say what the further work will be about, and where we will come to at the end.
Sleep is an encrypted message from our psyche, which, when “deciphered”, helps the client to better understand his life situation, in which he is currently, his feelings in relation to some events, people.
By “decoding” I do not mean the direct interpretation of images, but the implementation of certain techniques, in gestalt therapy this is identification with the images of a dream, playing the plot of a dream.
And what is typical, when in a dream, clients see some bright attractive images: an expensive necklace, a beloved singer, loved ones, then in such cases at the session they, without any doubts and hesitation, try on a favorite image and appropriate the resource hidden in the image. But if you dream of something socially unacceptable, a criminal, for example, or something unpleasant: some animal, deceased, monster, then the idea of trying on this role, as a rule, causes resistance. As if if a person does this, then he will immediately turn into this criminal or monster. Although, of course, this will not happen, just a person will come into contact with something strong, resourceful or, on the contrary, vulnerable and timid - that is, with that part of himself that he usually does not notice in himself and to which he has poor access, but which, most likely, at this period of his life is very relevant to him. Therefore, playing such at first unpleasant roles, characters from a dream can also be resourceful. Moreover, the purpose of playing the image is not to appropriate it, but to appropriate its modes of action, activity, determination, to get in touch with its energy. Since it often turns out to be blocked for the dreamer in ordinary life. And the more it is blocked, the brighter and more terrible the heroes of the dream and the dream itself will be.
To make it clearer, I want to give an example. The story is collective, and the image of the client is fictional.
My client once had a dream that her grandmother had died, and the client came to her house to say goodbye. She went into the room where she usually slept and saw two people on the bed: her dead grandmother and her husband next to her. Moreover, he looked very depressed and somehow lifeless too.
And of course, even despite the fact that the image of a dead woman, judging by the client's story, caused the greatest tension and was the most vivid, she immediately refused to try on this role. Therefore, at first she was in the role of a grandfather, but since this did not bring her closer to any better understanding of herself, I nevertheless returned her to the image of a grandmother. And so surprisingly, from this role of a dead woman, she began to say that: “Well, in principle, I do not regret anything, I had a long, eventful life, I managed everything, it’s okay for me to have a rest … -then she did pause and continued - … but I don't understand why my husband is lying next to me? Why? How dare he ?! - she said it straight with indignation and even some irritation - Why ?! After all, you are still alive! Yes, if I had still lived, I would have done so much more!”.
I noticed an unfolding conflict, and since in a dream all its characters and elements are different reflections of the dreamer, the conflict in a dream reflects some kind of inner conflict. And here, in this dream, two parts were already distinguished, two states of the client: inactive, which was more characteristic of her, and very energetic, active. It was clear that there was no dialogue between them yet, so I suggested starting it. I invited a client from the role of a dead grandmother to voice a message to her husband. And she almost immediately began to speak: “I want you to live on, you are very valuable to me, important, but your life goes on…”.
Then I alternately changed her roles to reproduce the dialogue between the characters (its different parts). As a result of the work, the client said that she felt more free and resourceful and as if she had received permission to live more fully. Then, at the end of the session, we devoted some more time to discussing how she could be active in her life.
In general, this work became a resource for the client, because she had a long melancholic period in her life, where she had a decline in energy, and then she came into contact with some part of her, which prompted her to life, to active actions, and which even showed her that life is finite and we have a limited amount of time, and at the same time somehow inspired her, even almost demanded to live more fully.
Of course, often one dream is not enough to radically change something in your life, but it can become a starting point for further work.
When we see a dream, all the actions in it unfold before us and we often find ourselves in the role of eyewitnesses of what is happening. But when later we reproduce the dream again, playing the role of each of the characters, we thus appropriate their energy, qualities, actions, which at the present time may be very significant and necessary for us. Thus, we can begin to appropriate to ourselves those modes of behavior, feelings that were once lost, and regain spontaneity, the ability to choose reactions and modes of behavior.
Recommended:
Languages of Love. We Clarify, Learn, Talk. Marriage Therapy Workshop
I want to share with the reader an approximate scheme of psychological work with a married couple, dedicated to a fundamental, important topic - "Languages of love - we clarify, we learn, we speak." I. You can start a joint dialogue like this … - Let's think about very important, essential things of partnership, marital relations:
Mother, About Whom It Is Forbidden To Talk
The phenomenon of the "dead mother" was isolated, named and studied by the famous French psychoanalyst Andre Green. Andre Green's article was originally presented as a lecture at the Paris Psychoanalytic Society on May 20, 1980. I want to note that the complex of a dead mother does not arise due to the real loss of a mother, a dead mother is a mother who remains alive, but she is mentally dead, because for one reason or another she fell into depression (death of
Sex, Sexuality, Homosexuality: Is It Easy For Psychotherapists To Talk “about” With Clients?
Talking to loved ones about problems in the sexual sphere, dissatisfaction, unusual fantasies is often difficult, unusual or inappropriate. It is not customary to address these questions to doctors and psychologists in our country, but in vain … What psychologists say about the topic of sexuality - in an interview with the French gestalt therapist, author of seminars about sexuality, Sylvia Schoch de Neuforn.
How To Talk To Assholes: Advice From Renowned Psychiatrist Mark Goulston
Instructions on dealing with unbearable people, how to deal with people who threaten business. The author explains how to gain control over irrational people and how to deal with reckless clients, manipulative colleagues and crazy bosses. Feel free of guilt It happens that we suddenly realize that we are suffering in a relationship with an irrational person simply because we do not want to drop ourselves in our own eyes.
The World Of Dreams. The Story Of The Experience Of Working With Dreams
An unsolved dream is like an unopened letter E. Fromm I really like to talk about dreams. Curiosity captures me, surprise at unexpected discoveries makes me feel awe. In my youth, I perceived dreams as magical journeys and adventures.
