(This blog was originally posted on June 24, 2014)
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| Photo courtesy of Fotolia |
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; Dream
Therapy, Part 2; and Dream
Therapy, Part 3.
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/.
© 2015
