Developing a Deeper Understanding About Your Anxiety Using Self-Help Journal Prompts

This article was updated on September 16, 2026.

While standard cognitive-behavioral tools excel at managing acute symptoms, true relief often requires a shift from surface-level coping to a deeper, psychodynamic exploration. 

Anxiety is rarely just a reaction to an immediate trigger; more often, it operates as a psychological defense mechanism designed to keep overwhelming subconscious feelings—such as forbidden anger, deep grief, or hidden shame—buried beneath the surface. 

While my previous article outlined actionable CBT journal prompts to cope with anxiety by asking if a thought is realistic, resolving chronic tension requires a different inquiry. To achieve long-term healing, the vital question a trauma therapist helps you ask is: "What is my anxiety trying to protect me from facing?"

Understanding Your Anxiety With Journal Prompts

Shifting from behavioral management to psychodynamic insight means investigating the root causes of your distress rather than just treating the symptom. 

When you use targeted self-help journal prompts for anxiety, you begin to safely unmask the hidden emotional wounds driving your nervous system's fight-or-flight response. Below, I break down the specific reflective journaling prompts designed to bypass your defense mechanisms, map your internal landscape, and unlock authentic emotional resolution.

Developing a Deeper Understanding About Your Anxiety

Anxiety is rarely just about the current trigger or what is going on in the moment. 

Instead, anxiety is often a defense mechanism to keep even more uncomfortable feelings buried beneath the surface. This can include forbidden anger, grief or shame. 

While the cognitive behavioral prompts from my previous article allow you to ask yourself questions like, "Is this thought realistic?", if you want to gain a deeper understanding about your anxiety, the deeper question would be "What is my anxiety trying protect me from facing?"

The Mask of Anxiety

Anxiety often acts as a "placeholder" for an emotion you unconsciously feel unsafe expressing. 

Journal prompts to uncover the underlying emotions include: 

• If my anxiety were a mask for a heavier emotion, what emotion would be hiding underneath the anxiety?

• What emotions were considered unacceptable or dangerous in my family when I was growing up? Anger? Sadness? Another emotion? 

• How do I react today when I feel that emotion?

• Am I using anxiety to distract myself from a hard truth?

Childhood Origins and Core Templates

Our earliest relationships with parents and others form the templates for how we experience safety and danger today, so you can try these journal prompts:

• When is the first time I remember feeling this same type of anxiety?

• Whose voice does my inner critic or anxious voice sound like? Does it echo a parent, older sibling, another caregiver, a teacher?

• How did my caregivers respond when I was distressed, scared or angry as a child? How might I be repeating that same response to myself as an adult?

Defense Mechanisms
On an unconscious level, our symptoms sometimes serve a hidden purpose--such as keeping us safe from failure, rejection or intimacy:

• How does my anxiety unconsciously protect me? If my anxiety makes me want to stay home, avoid people or over-prepare, what is my anxiety shielding me from feeling?

• What would I have to face or acknowledge if this anxiety suddenly vanished?

• Am I choosing the familiar discomfort of anxiety over the terrifying uncertainty of personal growth? What am I afraid would happen if I step outside this cycle? 

The Shadow of Unconscious Conflicts

The following prompts explore "Shadow Work" which includes the parts of your identity you have suppressed or rejected so you could to fit in:

• What part of myself am I currently judging or rejecting? How might that part be related to my internal conflict?

• If my anxiety were a separate person living inside of me, what would be its hidden motives or deepest desires? What is it trying to tell me? (see my article: How Does IFS Parts Work Therapy Treat Anxiety?).

• Write about a dream that left you feeling anxious (see my article: What Are Anxiety Dreams?). What do the people, symbols and locations in that dream represent to your inner self? 

Get Help in Therapy

Getting past the defense mechanisms that keep you from understanding your anxiety can be difficult to do on your own.

Rather than struggling on your own, seek help from an experienced psychotherapist who has an expertise in getting to underlying unconscious issues.

Getting to the root of your problems can help you to lead a more fulfilling life.

About Me

I am a licensed New York City psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, and advanced practitioner specializing in IFS Parts Work, Somatic Experiencing, AEDP, EMDR, and EFT Couples Therapy and Sex Therapy.

I provide depth-oriented, experiential therapy to help individual adults and couples move past internal blockages into authentic relational alignment.

To learn more about my clinical background, clinical philosophy, and healing approach, please visit my website: Josephine Ferraro, LCSW - NYC Psychotherapist.

• Office Location: I see clients in-person at my Greenwich Village office (New York, NY 10011) as well as online via secure telehealth.
• Initial Contact: I provide a complimentary 15-minute introductory phone call prior to scheduling an initial appointment.
• Contact Information: You can reach me directly at (917) 742-2624 during standard business hours or email me.

Also See My Articles

Anxiety Can Be a Signal You Are Suppressing Deeper Emotions 

What is Avoidance Coping and How Is It Related to Anxiety?

Living With Uncertainty 

Embracing Your Shadow Self

 

How Can Your Dreams Help You to Develop a Deeper Understanding of Yourself?

Dreams are an internal bridge to your unconscious mind.

Develop a Deeper Understanding of Yourself Through Dreams

Dreams help you to process your emotions, problems-solve and confront unresolved fears and desires. This is why they are such a rich source of information about your internal world.

How Can Dreams Help You to Develop a Deeper Understanding of Yourself?

Since dreams bypass the logical part of your waking mind, you can gain a deeper understanding of your unconscious mind in the following ways:

• Emotional Processing and Regulation: Dreams can help you to identify emotions and work through unprocessed emotions which helps with emotional regulation.

• Identifying Blindspots: Since dreams bypass your logical conscious mind, they can reveal aspects of yourself that you're not aware of during your waking state including blindspots (see my article: Overcoming Emotional Blindspots).

Develop a Deeper Understanding of Yourself Through Dreams

• Creative Problem Solving: Dreams can provide you with a fresh perspective on challenges you are trying to resolve. They can provide ways to practice responses to these challenges that you might not think of when you're awake.

• Highlighting Unresolved Problems: Recurring dreams are often signals about ongoing stressors or unresolved conflicts. 

How Can You Remember and Use Your Dreams For Self Discovery?

Here are some practical tips that can be helpful:

• Set a Pre-sleep Intention: Before going to sleep, tell yourself that you will remember your dreams.

• Stay Still When You Wake Up: When you wake up, don't move or open your eyes immediately.  Physical movement and sensory input (light) can make it more difficult to remember dreams.

• Dream Delving: Dream delving is also called reverse recall. If you only remember a fragment of your dream, focus on that fragment, image or emotion and work backwards. Ask yourself, "Where was I?" and "What was I doing in the dream?". It's also helpful to be aware of the emotions you're experience upon waking up to see if these emotions are related to your dreams.

• Keeping a Dream Journal: Recording dreams in a dream journal on a consistent basis can help improve dream recall and help you to see growth patterns over time.

• Dream Analysis: Instead of taking dreams literally, look for the emotional tone of the dreams, symbols as well as personal meaning (see my article: Dream Analysis: Are You Fascinated By Your Dreams?).

• Active Dream Participation: Techniques like rewriting nightmares after you wake up allow you to consciously interact with the dream material to face fears directly and allow you to work through unresolved issues (see my article: Transforming Nightmares Through Creative Dreamwork).

How Can Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Help You to Understand Your Dreams?

Psychodynamic psychotherapy can help you to understand your dreams by providing a collaborative framework with your therapist to identify symbolic imagery, emotional patterns and unconscious conflicts and desires.

Psychodynamic psychotherapy can help:

• Identify Themes: Psychodynamic therapists can help you to spot recurring symbols and emotional patterns that might signal unresolved issues.

Develop a Deeper Understanding of Yourself Through Dreams

• Help With Emotional Regulation: Psychodynamic therapists can help to unpack dreams, including nightmares or scary dreams which can help you to manage your emotions.

• Provide a Safe Place For Exploration: Therapy provides a safe space to explore difficult feelings that can surface in dreams. 

• Help With Behavioral Change: When you gain a better understanding of your dreams, this understanding can provide a catalyst to make changes in your life.

There are many different ways of doing dreamwork (see the links below other articles).

About Me

I am a licensed New York psychodynamic psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT (for couples), Parts Work (IFS and Ego States Therapy), Somatic Experiencing and Certified Sex Therapist.

I have helped many individual adults and couples over the years.

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

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.

Also See My Articles:

Dreams and Embodied Imagination 

Jungian Dreamwork 

Using Dreams to Tap Into Your Creative and Intuitive Power

Working With Dreams to Develop Your Creative Imagination 

How Does Imagery and Imagination Enhance Psychotherapy?

Reconnecting With Deceased Loved Ones in Your Dreams

Having dreams about deceased loved ones is a common experience for many people (see my article: Common Reactions to the Loss of a Loved One).  

Reconnected With Deceased Loved Ones in Dreams

Some people believe loved ones come to them in dreams to reconnect or to impart an important message.  

Others believe these dreams come from a place deep inside them as a way to remember and mourn their loss.

Whatever you believe, these dreams can be an important part of your healing process as way to come to terms with your loss. 

A Child's Recurring Dreams About a Deceased Father

When I was a child, I had recurring dreams about my father, who died suddenly (see my article: Grief in Waiting After the Death of a Parent).

Reconnecting With Deceased Loves Ones in Dreams

Each dream was slightly different, but there were certain recurring themes. 

One recurring theme was that I would be shocked to see my father appear suddenly in front of me.  I would be happy to see him, but I would also feel confused and I would say to him, "But I thought you were dead..."

In some of the dreams he would tell me he had just gone away and now he was back, and in other dreams he would acknowledge that he was dead. 

Whichever response I received would confuse me: How could he be dead and still be standing in front of me?

Then, at some point, I would tell my father I wanted to let my mother know he was back. But when I turned around, he was gone and I felt the painful loss again.

Many clients tell me how real these dreams feel to them and I know this from my own experience. 

Each person comes to their own understanding of the meaning of their dreams. 

Looking back now, I believe these dreams were a way for my unconscious mind to work through the loss when my conscious mind couldn't make sense of it (see my article: Making the Unconscious Conscious).

In other words, my unconscious mind helped with the healing process. 

Many years later, when I was ready, a skilled psychotherapist helped me with a deeper level of working through the grief (see my article: The Many Layers of Grief).

Dreams About a Deceased Psychotherapist

Over the years I've had dreams about a psychotherapist who was important in my healing process as a young adult.

In some of those dreams, I talked to the therapist about current issues in my life.  

In those dreams it was as if he were still very much alive and I was having a therapy session to talk over a problem. 

I usually wake up feeling a little wistful but also refreshed.

After I wake up, I allow myself to enjoy the experience of the dream without analyzing the meaning--at least not at first.

For me, allowing myself to linger in the experience of this reconnection with someone who was so important to me during my youth is more meaningful (initially) than an analyzing the dream.  There's always time for that later, if I want it.

Conclusion

There are many ways to grieve and work through the loss of a loved one including healing through dreams (see my articles: Writing About Your Mother After Her Death).

Although not all dreams about deceased loved ones are healing, the ones that are can help with the grief and mourning process.

It doesn't matter whether you believe your loved one actually came to you or you believe the dream was your unconscious mind's way of helping you to deal with the loss.  Either belief can help in the healing process.

Recalling, writing down and talking about these dreams with trusted friends and family can help you to cope with loss.

Although dreams can be healing, sometimes grief is too difficult to work through on your own and therapy can help.

Getting Help in Therapy

Time alone doesn't heal all wounds (see my article: Time Doesn't Heal All Wounds).

Grief work in therapy can help you to move through the mourning process at a pace that feels right for you.

Getting Help in Therapy

Rather than struggling on your own, seek help from a skilled psychotherapist who does grief work with clients.

Working through grief can help you to heal from the pain and live a more fulfilling life.

Also See My Other Articles About Grief:

Coping With Complicated Grief

You Continue to Have a Relationship With Your Parents Even After They Die

Holding Onto Grief as a Way to Stay Emotionally Connected to a Deceased Loved One

Mourning the Death of a Father You Have Never Known

Coping With the Loss of a Pet

About Me

I am a licensed New York psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT (for couples), Somatic Experiencing and Sex Therapist.

With over 20 years of experience, I have helped many individuals and couples to heal.

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

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.

11 Ways to Become a More Creative Person

In my article, The Joy of Becoming More Playful As An Adult, I discussed how playing can help you to be a more creative person.  In this article, I'm focusing on creativity and things you can do to inspire your creativity.

Become a More Creative Person

Things You Can Do to Inspire Your Creativity

• Tap Into Your Unconscious Mind Using Stream of Consciousness Writing: In her book, The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron writes about doing stream of consciousness writing when you wake up in the morning.  She calls it the Morning Pages.  This process also goes by other names, including free associative writing.  With any type of free associative writing you're allowing yourself to just write down whatever comes to mind. You're not editing it or assessing it. You're just allowing your thoughts to flow. This will eventually tap into your unconscious mind so you can access your creativity. 

• Welcome Boredom: People usually try to avoid being bored by filling up their time with all kinds of activity, including spending time scrolling through social media.  But instead of trying to avoid boredom, embrace it.  People often get their best ideas when they're bored (see my article: How Boredom Can Lead to Greater Creativity).

• Use Your Dreams: Dreams can be a great source of creativity. You can give yourself a  suggestion just before going to sleep that you want creative ideas for a project you're working on. This is called dream incubation (see my articles: Dream Incubation - Planting Seeds, Embodied Imagination and Dreamwork and Working With Dreams to Develop Your Creative Imagination).

Use Your Dream to Develop Your Creativity

• Develop Your Intuition: There are lots of ways to develop your intuition. Many people use vivid picture cards, like Tarot cards that appeal to them or cards called Inner Active cards to stimulate their intuition which also enhances creativity (see my article: Tapping into Your Creative and Intuitive Power).

• Spend Time in Nature: Even just a few minutes of walking in nature can help you to relax and open up to new ideas.

• Get Physical: Exercising helps to increase blood flow and oxygen to the brain. It also helps to get you out of a linear mode of thinking so you can tap into your creativity.

• Keep a List of Ideas: Whenever you hear an interesting or intriguing idea, write it down.  When you get into the habit of keeping a list of ideas, you give your mind the signal that you're open to new ideas so they can begin to flow.

• Watch an Inspiring TED Talk: TED talk speakers are usually inspiring and can motivate you to open yourself to new ideas.

Become a More Creative Person: Watch an Inspiring TED Talk

• Do Something New: Try something new--whether it's going to a new place, learning about a new culture, learning a new language, taking an acting class, telling your five minute story at a storytelling show, like The Moth, or whatever seems fun and inspiring to you (see my article: The Power of Storytelling and Being Open to New Experiences).

• Look at Your World With New Eyes: Instead of seeing your surroundings in the way you always see them, look at your world with new eyes. This could mean you walk around your neighborhood and look for things you never noticed before--a decoration on a building, a flower in your neighbor's garden you've never noticed before, an unusual looking tree, a bird's nest and so on (see my article: Seeing Small Wonders All Around Us If We Just Take the Time to Notice).

• Practice Mindfulness Meditation: Research studies have revealed many benefits to doing mindfulness meditation, including developing a more flexible way of thinking. When you can think more flexibly, you can be more creative (see my article: The Mind-Body Connection: Mindfulness Meditation).

Conclusion

There are many ways to tap into your creativity. It's a matter of finding what works for you.  

Sometimes people feel creatively blocked and they need to find ways to reclaim their creativity).  

Getting Help in Therapy

If you're unable to get out of a creative rut on your own, you can seek help in therapy from a therapist who does Experiential Therapy, which uses the mind-body connection to help clients to get creatively unblocked.

Getting Help in Therapy

Working with a skilled experiential therapist can help you overcome blocks that are hindering your progress (see my article: Overcoming Creative Blocks).

About Me

I am a licensed New York City psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT, Somatic Experiencing and Sex Therapist.

I am a sex positive therapist who works with individual adults and couples.

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

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.

How to Conquer Your Nightmares

In my prior article, Common Nightmares During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic, I began a discussion about common nightmares that many people are having during the current pandemic and gave examples of two dreams.  In this article, I'll discuss how you can conquer your nightmares, whether they're pandemic-related or not.  To show you how to do this, I'll be taking one of the dreams from the prior article, deconstructing it and then showing how you can work with it on your own (see my article: How to Overcome Anxiety Dreams).

How to Conquer Your Nightmares

Deconstructing and Working With a Nightmare
I'm choosing Dream 2 (see below) from the prior article as an example of how you can deconstruct and work with a nightmare on your own. So, here's Dream 2:

     Dream 2  - From My Prior Blog Article
I'm a child of 7 or 8 years old. My mother tells me that we have to escape from where we're living to move back to the US.  Only a few close relatives know because it's a secret.  My mother doesn't want her husband, my stepfather, to know that we're running away because he's abusive and we're escaping from him.  I grab whatever I can quickly because we have to get to the airport fast, and I kiss my relatives goodbye.  I don't have time to say goodbye to a male friend, who has been good to me (I'm older in this part of the dream).  So, I try to text him to tell him that I had to leave due to an emergency, but my phone won't work. I know he's going to be hurt that I left suddenly without an explanation, and I feel terrible about this. Then, my mother, brother and I run to the airport to get on a rescue flight that's been arranged for us by the US government to bring us back to the states. Somehow, I get separated from my mother and brother (I'm a young child again in this part of the dream). I don't know which way to go. I'm scared and I call out to my mother, but I don't see her anywhere. Nothing looks or feels familiar, even though I know I've been to this area many times before. I see other people who are also running and I ask them the way to the airport because I'm lost.  They point the way and I run all the way to the airport. Once I get there, I realize I don't have a plane ticket. I call out to my mother again saying that I don't have a plane ticket.  Even though she's still nowhere to be found, a reassuring male voice tells me over the airport public address system that I don't need a plane ticket because this is a special government rescue flight for my family to escape. When I get to security, I realize that I'm not wearing a face mask so I'm not going to be allowed on the flight. I see everyone else around me wearing a face mask, and I look around to see if there's somewhere I can buy as mask (I'm older again in this part of the dream). Then, I realize that I do have a mask, but I've been wearing it on my chin, so I pull it over to cover my nose and mouth.  When I arrive at the gate, I still don't see my mother or brother, but I feel a little calmer because I know I'm going to make the flight and I'll escape from this place.  Somehow, I see the long document that my mother had to fill out to get approval from the government for this rescue flight. I feel badly that I didn't know before about the abuse that my mother endured at the hands of my stepfather.  While I'm waiting for the flight at the gate, I try to text my male friend again. I desperately want to reach him so he won't feel abandoned by me, but my phone still doesn't work. I feel sad that he's going to feel sad and abandoned.

It's pretty clear what makes this dream a nightmare:

• The dreamer, as a child of 7 or 8, has been told that she and her family must escape from a place in a hurry.
• She has to leave immediately without saying goodbye to her male friend, which she feels badly about.
• She loses her mother and brother as they're running to the airport.
• She fears she won't be let on the plane because she doesn't have a plane ticket.
• She fears she won't get past security because she thinks she doesn't have a face mask.
• She reads the long document about her stepfather's abusive behavior towards her mother that her mother had to fill out to get permission to take a special flight, and she feels sad she didn't know about the abuse before.
• She worries that her male friend will feel abandoned by her because she can't tell him that she must leave in a hurry.

At the same time, it's important to notice that there are points along the way where she actually gets help (see the italicized sentences in Dream 2 above), including:

• People who give her directions when she gets lost while trying to get to the airport.
• The reassuring voice that comes over the airport public address system reassuring her that she doesn't need a plane ticket because this is a special flight that has been arranged for her and her family to get away.
• She thinks, at first, that she doesn't have a face mask and then discovers that, in fact she does have one.
• She finally gets to the gate where her flight will be taking off, so she knows, at that point, that she will get away, presumably, she will be reunited with her mother and brother, and so they will all be safe.

     Learning to Do Lucid Dreaming
In a prior article, Transforming Nightmares Through Creative Dreamwork, I discussed lucid dreaming.  Learning how to become lucid (or conscious) during a dream takes practice.  Some people are fascinated by lucid dreaming and they will take the time and make the effort to develop the skill.

Essentially, what you are doing when you have a lucid dream is you're realizing that you're having a dream while you're dreaming.  You remain in the dream and transform the dream to whatever you want it to be (this is explained in more detail in my article above, Transforming Nightmares Through Creative Dreamwork).

The obvious advantage of learning to do lucid dreaming is that you change the dream while you're in the dream as opposed to when you wake up.  The disadvantage (if you see it as a disadvantage) is that, while some people can learn to have lucid dreams with little effort, most people have to make more of an effort to train themselves to have lucid dreams.  So, if you're interested in learning to have lucid dreams, I recommend that you click on the link above for my article on transforming nightmares.  The article includes a recommendation for a book on lucid dreaming.

    Rewriting the Narrative of Your Nightmare and Embodying the Changes
For people who aren't interested in developing the skill to do lucid dreaming and who prefer a simpler and faster way for dealing with nightmares, I suggest rewriting the narrative of your nightmare after you have written down the original dream the way that it occurred:

• Keep a pen and pad by your bedside so you're ready to write down your dreams as soon as you wake up.
• Before you go to sleep, spend a few minutes giving yourself the suggestion that you will remember your dreams.
• When you wake up and you sense that you have had a dream, remain still for a few minutes.  This means that you don't shift around from the position that you're in when you wake up (e.g., if you're lying on your right side when you wake up, don't turn--just stay still).
• Wait a few minutes until the dream comes back to you. You might find that you remember the dream in sections in reverse order.  In other words, you might remember the last part of the dream (the part that occurred closest to waking up) first, and then you might remember the part before that and the part before that, and so on. Also, since we all have at least 4-5 dreams per night depending upon how long you sleep (whether you remember them or not), you will probably remember your dreams in reverse order too.
• Write down whatever you remember from the dream--even if it's just a snippet or an image.  You can still work with a small part of the dream.  Also, it gives your unconscious mind the suggestion that you're interested in your dreams and make it more likely for you to gradually remember more each time you wake up from your dreams.  Over time, if you keep writing down your dreams, you will remember more details.
• After you have written down your dream, rewrite the dream so that it's no longer a nightmare.

So, for example, if you were the dreamer who had Dream 2 (above), you could rewrite the dream however you want to, including:

• Making it easier for the dreamer, the mother and brother to get to the airport together by having a relative drive them there, so they don't have to run to the airport and the dreamer doesn't get separated from the mother and brother.
• A relative or friend could offer the dreamer his or her phone so that the dreamer can contact her male friend rather than the dreamer trying to rely solely on her malfunctioning phone. This will relieve the anxiety that the dreamer has about hurting her male friend's feelings and causing him to feel that he's been abandoned by her.
• Since the dreamer would be with her mother and brother (rather than losing them, as she did in the dream), the mother can reassure both children that they can get on the plane without a plane ticket so that the dreamer doesn't have to go through worrying she doesn't have a plane ticket.
• The mother can reassure the dreamer that they all have the required face masks to get on the flight.
• The dreamer, mother and brother can all be at the gate together ready to get on the plan.

There are many different ways to rewrite Dream 2.  As an alternative, the dreamer can rewrite the dream so that it's not necessary to escape at all, in the following way:

• The mother tells a relative, who is recognized to be a powerful figure in the family, about the stepfather's abusive behavior and this relative confronts the stepfather and tells him that he must stay away from the mother, dreamer and brother.  The stepfather is fearful of this relative so he never bothers the family again.
• The mother reports the abusive stepfather to the police.  They arrest him and he is no longer a threat.
• And so on.

The second part of reworking the dream is to rehearse and embody the rewritten dream (see my article about The Mind-Body Connection and New Symbolic Memories and The Body Offers a Window Into the Unconscious Mind).

In other words, after you have rewritten the original dream so that it's no longer a nightmare, you spend a little time rehearsing the rewritten dream and noticing the emotions that come up for you and where you feel these emotions in your body.

Feeling the emotions and noticing where you feel these emotions in your body will help you to have a stronger sense of the rewritten dream because you're not just writing and reading what you have written, you're also taking the time, in effect, to rewire this revision of the dream using the mind-body connection.

So, for instance, if you choose to have a relative, who is a powerful person in the family, confront the abusive stepfather, after you have written this and read it, you would take a few minutes to notice what emotions come up for you.  Maybe you have a sense of relief and you notice that you feel that in your gut. Or, maybe you feel gratitude for your relative, a sense of empowerment through this relative and you notice that you feel this in your chest.

If you have someone that you tell your dreams to, whether it's a therapist, a friend or a spouse, telling this person the original dream and the rewritten dream will also be helpful.  You will feel less alone with the dream and hearing yourself tell someone else the original dream and the rewritten dream can be a powerful experience.

By rewriting the dream, you're not denying that you had a nightmare.  Instead, you're a way to conquer the nightmare so you have a sense of relief.  It's also an important recognition that you are the author of your dreams and that you can also be the author of your rewritten dreams.

Getting Help in Therapy

Some people can work on nightmares on your own. Many other people are unable to cope with nightmares because these dreams are related to trauma.

The dreamer and the dreamer's family in Dream 2 are trying to get away from an abusive stepfather, which could indicate a history of unresolved trauma if this dream is related to actual events in the dreamer's life (see my article: How Past Trauma Lives on in the Present).

It's not unusual, whether it's during a pandemic or any other time, for people with traumatic histories to have nightmares, including recurring nightmares. 

If you are struggling with nightmares, whether they are related to a history of trauma or not, you're not alone.  You can get help from a licensed psychotherapist, who has experience helping clients to overcome nightmares.

Rather than struggling on your own, seek help from an experienced mental health professional so that you can live a more fulfilling life.

About Me

I am a licensed New York City psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT, and Somatic Experiencing therapist (see my article: The Therapeutic Benefits of Integrative Therapy).

I work with individual adults and couples.

One of my specialties is helping clients to overcome trauma (see my article: What is a Trauma Therapist?).

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

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.

Common Nightmares During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic

Have you been having nightmares lately? If so, you're not alone. Pandemic nightmares have been common during this COVID-19 pandemic.  Regardless of age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or nationality, many people have been having pandemic nightmares, which is the subject of this article (see my articles: How to Overcome Anxiety Dreams).

Common Nightmares During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic

These nightmares are so common that Robert Bosnak, a Jungian analyst in Santa Barbara California, has been offering a free online workshop on Friday nights at 6 PM (PST) during the pandemic called the Spooky Dreams Cafe where he uses Embodied Imagination, a method of dreamwork which he developed, to help some people on the Zoom call with these nightmares (see my article: Dream Incubation: Planting Seeds).

Many people, who lived through the crisis of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack, have reported in therapy that they're having similar nightmares during this time to the ones they had in 2001 and beyond (see my article: Tips For Getting Better Sleep).

Common Themes in Pandemic Nightmares
There are certain themes that are common in these COVID-related nightmares, including (but not limited to):

• Anxiety-related events or circumstances in the dream
• Places, which were once known and familiar, suddenly looking and feeling unfamiliar in the nightmare
• A need to escape or run
• Feeling trapped, helpless and/or lost
• A regression to an earlier age (e.g., an adult dreaming that they're a child again)
• Losing someone or something
• Phones and other gadgets malfunctioning
• Other sudden and inexplicable changes 

Typical Nightmares During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic
The following dreams are typical of the type of dreams people have been having during this COVID-19 crisis (as told to me by friends and used with permission):

Dream 1:
I'm in a classroom, which is taking place in my apartment. The instructor, whom I like, is taking things out of my dresser drawer to show the class. These items include a silk scarf I haven't seen in many years.  At one point, he breaks apart the wooden dresser drawer, and I'm fascinated by this (it seems like a deconstruction of some sort). Then, I notice that there's a similar dresser in the room that remains in tact.  I leave the room to go to the rest room, and when I come back, my laptop is gone. Somehow, I know that the instructor gave it away to one of my classmates, and I'm annoyed that he did this without my permission. I look around for it, but I can't find it. I see a male friend, who is sitting in a far off corner of the room. Then, suddenly, the scene changes: I'm walking around in an area of my neighborhood, not far from my home, where I've been many times before. I know that this place is familiar to me, but it looks and feels eerily unfamiliar.  I know I need to get back to class, but I don't know which way to go because I'm lost.  Then, I see a cab and get in it.  There's a couple, who are on their way home from the airport, who are already in the cab.  I don't know where to tell the cab driver to go because I'm lost, but I'm relieved to be in the cab.  The cab stops because the couple have arrived outside their home. I get out too because I realize it's useless to be in the cab if I don't know where I'm going.  The couple tell me that I have to pay thousands of dollars to them for the short distance that I went with them, and I get angry and tell them that I won't pay.  I know that my male friend is back in the class, he has his car and he would come get me if I call him, but I don't know where I am, so I can't tell him. The scene changes: I'm sitting at an outdoor bar with this same friend and our classmates.  We're all dressed up. I suddenly realize that I forgot that he's much taller than me.  I tell my friend about what just happened (that I was lost) and he's surprised and laughs. I'm feeling much better.  The outdoor bar is up on a bridge that overlooks people's homes down below. These people have shallow outdoor pools in front of their homes.  I tell my friend that we could do that too (we could each have outdoor pools).  Then, as I'm gazing out at the water from the bridge, I tell my friend, "Let's pretend that we're on the Arno Bridge in Florence" and he agrees.

Dream 2:
I'm a child of 7 or 8 years old. My mother tells me that we have to escape from where we're living to move back to the US.  Only a few close relatives know because it's a secret.  My mother doesn't want her husband, my stepfather, to know that we're running away because he's abusive and we're escaping from him.  I grab whatever I can quickly because we have to get to the airport fast, and I kiss my relatives goodbye.  I don't have time to say goodbye to a male friend, who has been good to me (I'm older in this part of the dream).  So, I try to text him to tell him that I had to leave due to an emergency, but my phone won't work. I know he's going to be hurt that I left suddenly without an explanation, and I feel terrible about this. Then, my mother, brother and I run to the airport to get on a rescue flight that's been arranged for us by the US government to bring us back to the states. Somehow, I get separated from my mother and brother (I'm a young child again in this part of the dream). I don't know which way to go. I'm scared and I call out to my mother, but I don't see her anywhere. Nothing looks or feels familiar, even though I know I've been to this area many times before. I see other people who are also running and I ask them the way to the airport because I'm lost.  They point the way and I run all the way to the airport. Once I get there, I realize I don't have a plane ticket. I call out to my mother again saying that I don't have a plane ticket.  Even though she's still nowhere to be found, a reassuring male voice tells me over the airport public address system that I don't need a plane ticket because this is a special government rescue flight for my family to escape. When I get to security, I realize that I'm not wearing a face mask so I'm not going to be allowed on the flight. I see everyone else around me wearing a face mask, and I look around to see if there's somewhere I can buy as mask (I'm older again in this part of the dream). Then, I realize that I do have a mask, but I've been wearing it on my chin, so I pull it over to cover my nose and mouth.  When I arrive at the gate, I still don't see my mother or brother, but I feel a little calmer because I know I'm going to make the flight and I'll escape from this place.  Somehow, I see the long document that my mother had to fill out to get approval from the government for this rescue flight. I feel badly that I didn't know before about the abuse that my mother endured at the hands of my stepfather.  While I'm waiting for the flight at the gate, I try to text my male friend again. I desperately want to reach him so he won't feel abandoned by me, but my phone still doesn't work. I feel sad that he's going to feel sad and abandoned.

A Word About These Nightmares
I'm going to deconstruct these nightmares and discuss how to work with nightmares in my next article but, for now, suffice it to say that both of these dreams have many typical features of anxiety dreams and, specifically, many elements typical of current pandemic nightmares (outlined above at the beginning of this article).

Getting Help in Therapy
Nightmares during times of crisis are often a way for the unconscious mind to work through difficult emotions and reconsolidate traumatic memories.

In addition, these nightmares sometimes reveal underlying unresolved trauma (see my article: Before and After Psychological Trauma).

If you've been having nightmares during this global pandemic, you're not alone.

An experienced psychotherapist, who helps clients during times of crisis and who works with dreams, can help you to understand and heal from nightmares.

Rather than suffering on your own, take the first step by calling a licensed psychotherapist for help.  Being able to work through your fears and nightmares can provide you with relief and allow you to feel more empowered.

About Me
I am a licensed NYC psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, EMDR, AEDP, EFT and Somatic Experiencing therapist (see my article: The Therapeutic Benefits of Integrative Therapy).

I work with individual adults and couples.

One of my specialties is helping clients to overcome unresolved trauma.

During the global pandemic, like most psychotherapists, I'm providing online therapy, which is also known as teletherapy and telehealth (see my article: The Advantages of Online Therapy When You Can't See Your Therapist in Person).

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

To set up a consultation, call me at (917) 742-2624 during business hours or email me.