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| Photo by Rick Hustead |
An individual
works through events and conflicts that he or she experienced earlier in the
day by venting them out in early-morning venting
dreams, Hypnosis Motivation Institute
founder John Kappas, Ph.D., explained. A
dream recurs if the subconscious mind does not resolve the issue/content
through this process. Furthermore, a recurring dream can cause a phobic
reaction if its content induces anxiety. When this occurs, the individual may
subconsciously resist sleeping or if the person only sleeps very lightly to
avoid having the dream again. Paradoxically, avoiding sleep also reduces the
possibility of venting the original issue that keeps showing up in the disturbing
dream.
In addition, a
person may incorporate stimuli that he or she experiences during sleep—such as
the sound of a barking dog or a slamming door—into the content of a dream. Low
blood-sugar levels are associated with the development of phobias, so it is
also reasonable to conclude that someone whose blood-sugar level drops during
sleep may develop a phobia about a recurring dream. In this case, the person’s nutrition
must be addressed to ameliorate the phobic
response in addition to helping the person resolve the issue(s) presented
during the dream.
You’ll still
have to solve the dream and the subconscious motives and fears that aren’t
being expressed consciously, Dr. Kappas said. “[Dreams] send signals when
something is wrong. These signals must be taken into consideration. Even though
the signal (dream) is fantasy, the event that precipitated it is real.”
During this
process, the hypnotherapist should provide plenty of suggestions to help the
person vent the original fear in addition to desensitizing the client to specific
content of the recurring dream. “It might frighten you a bit, but that’s okay
because it’s the last time you will ever dream it. You will feel the dream
fading and disappearing,” Dr. Kappas advised.
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®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2017
