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| Photo courtesy of Photolia Recurring dreams are a way for the subconscious mind to resolve a conflict or work through unmet needs. |
Have
you ever had the same dream—or a dream about a specific topic—more than one
time? These are recurring dreams, and
they occur when the subconscious mind is unable to release or vent the content of the dream for one
reason or another. You are likely to continue dreaming about this topic until
your SCM has worked through, resolved or released your subconscious attachment
to that issue. If this has happened to you, don’t worry: recurring dreams are
your mind’s way of letting you know that you need to let go of a behavior,
emotion or attachment that is preventing or hindering your personal growth.
In
his book, Professional Hypnotism Manual, Hypnosis
Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D. observed that an individual may
also have recurring dreams about a stage of development that they may have
missed. He theorized that the person’s dreams repeatedly address a specific
literal or symbolic representation of a conflict, whereby the subconscious
mind tries to relive and work through whatever is keeping the person “stuck” in
that stage. Those dreams would likely cease once the person consciously or subconsciously resolved
the conflict, thus releasing him or her to enter a new stage of development.
For
example, if someone seeks hypnotherapy to “stop” his or her recurring dreams
about a former partner or aspect(s) of that previous relationship, I would first
help the individual to analyze those dreams. I would specifically be
interested to know what his or her dream interpretation reveals. What new insights
does the client have about the behavior, emotions or beliefs associated with that
former partner or relationship? In other words: What are you subconsciously holding onto? What do you subconsciously
not want to give up or refuse to release? Next, I would incorporate this
information into the hypnotic script(s) to encourage the client to give him- or
herself permission to release any remaining emotional attachment to the person/relationship
that may be preventing personal growth. I would also incorporate information about
the positive lessons and experiences that the person acquired through this relationship,
which my client could apply in a future and more successful or rewarding
relationship. Finally, I would give the person a hypnotic suggestion to release
residual emotions or behavioral attachment to the former partner or
relationship—specifically, to the habit
of dreaming about them—in early-morning venting dreams. Such release will not
only provide a resolution for the conflict(s) that the person’s SCM has been
working so hard to resolve, but will also enable him or her to pursue other
goals that will facilitate continuing personal growth.
I
have addressed the psychological and physiological benefits of dreams, and hypnotherapy
and how to analyze dreams, in several previous blogs: Dream Therapy, Part 1
(January 8, 2014); Dream Therapy, Part 2 (January 9, 2014); and Dream Therapy,
Part 3 (January 10, 2014).
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a
certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with
honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more
information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy®
and to set up an appointment, please
visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
