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NYC Psychotherapist Blog

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Monday, June 1, 2009

Dream Analysis: Are You Fascinated by Your Dreams?

When you wake up from a compelling dream, do you find yourself wondering what the dream is about?

Your Dreams
We create our dreams through our unconscious mind. Usually, we have at least 5-7 dreams every night. However, we tend to remember the dreams that are closest to the time when we're about to wake up.

You can train yourself to remember your dreams by giving your unconscous mind the message that you want to remember them when you wake up.

Are You Fascinated By Your Dreams?

Keeping a Dream Journal
How do you do this? One way is to have a pad and pen or a recorder close to your bed so that when you wake up, you can capture your dreams right away. Dreams are often fleeting and if you don't record them immediately, they often slip out of our conscious minds. We can feel them slipping away and it's as if we're trying to catch the last bit of the dream as it drifts off.

Another helpful hint is to try to stay in the same position that you were in when you woke up. So, for instance, if you were lying on your right side, stay in that position and relax for a moment. You'll be more likely to remember your dreams if you stay in the same position. Usually, you'll remember them starting with the last one first and then going backwards.

If you keep a dream journal, you'll find, after a while, that you'll tend to remember many dreams. You'll also probably see certain recurring themes. Some clients say that by bringing more of an awareness to their dreams, they also begin to develop their intuition.

There are are as many ways to analyze dreams as there are psychoanalytic theories. No two theories will look at a dream in the same way. Fortunately, you don't have to be trained in psychoanalysis to analyze your dreams. You also don't need to buy how-to books about dream symbolism, which tend to give fixed definitions of the symbols that often won't apply to you.

You're your own best resource for dream analysis. The symbolism in a dream is whatever it means to you. So, one way to analyze a dream is to look at each person and aspect of the dream and think of it as part of yourself. After all, you're the author of your dreams.

Ask yourself, "If this person in my dream is some aspect of myself, what does that mean?" Also, ask yourself, "What emotions did I feel in this dream?" and "What emotions do I feel now that I'm awake?" Often, you'll come up with some fascinating answers and learn a lot about yourself.

Are You Fascinated By Your Dreams?

Some dreams are self state dreams. So, they're not about symbolism--they're about your feeling state at the time. So, for example, if you have a dream that you're running in place, but you're not moving, it often means that you are feeling frustrated and unable to move forward in a particular aspect of your life. Of course, this is an oversimplification, but it serves the purpose of describing a self state dream.

Getting Help in Therapy
I'm trained in contemporary psychoanalysis, and when I'm working with clients, I love working with their dreams so we can explore what their unconscious minds are trying to tell them.  I am also a hypnotherapist and EMDR and Somatic Experiencing therapist.

To find out more about me, please visit my website:Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.

If you're curious about how you can enhance your personal growth and well being through dream analysis, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me for a consultation.