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| Photo courtesy of Microsoft |
Dreams
always show or reveal what is going on in your life. The circumstances in your
dream may be literal, inferred or symbolic. They are also very specific to you
and are not transferable to anyone else.
For
example, a dream about flying may represent venting the feeling of escaping to more
pleasant surroundings. Or, if your emotions are negative (e.g., sad, angry or
fearful) when you wake up from an escape dream, it may represent a fear of loss
of control, an out-of-body experience or fear of possession. Frustration about
direction may also reflect your inability to make a decision.
As
a general rule, the content of what you have worked through in therapy or
experienced during the course of the day will be vented out in an early-morning
dream. Some dreams are so vivid that you may (temporarily) believe that the dream
is true. However, be careful not to take the content of your dream literally. Rather,
it is the message that is revealed to you through the symbols of your dream
that is important. The timing of your dream is also very important because it
tells you where the dream started or what jogged your memory of an event or
situation. Timing of the dream also indicates how far back you must go to
interpret its content or meaning.
Finally,
the way you feel when the dream is over reveals where you are in terms of
dealing with an issue. “You can have a fairly traumatic dream and feel pretty
good when you awaken or have a fairly traumatic dream and feel pretty bad,”
said Hypnosis
Motivation Institute founder Dr. John Kappas. “The kind of feelings a
person has determines if [you’re] trying to let it go or take it back.”
Your
mind will hold onto the dream (i.e., the dream will recur) until it is
interpreted, often adding circumstances or elements to facilitate the venting
process. Once the dream is expressed, “it starts to decompose” and will not
return, Dr. Kappas explained. If an issue is not vented out in a dream, it can
be brought up during a hypnotherapy session.
“Dreams
can be very revealing and is an important part of therapy,” the hypnotherapist said.
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/.
