Dreams - what do they mean? Do they have any use?

Have you ever wondered what your dreams might mean? Perhaps you have looked them up in a book? That can be a good place to start, but may not tell the full story. It may seem that perhaps there is more to it than that. From the psychodynamic perspective, exploring dreams can be a possible way to find out more about yourself. This can be a rewarding process. Things may come to light giving you a fresh perspective on yourself and how you relate to others.

Not everyone remembers their dreams, but writing down any fragments you can remember may help you remember more. Keeping a record of your dreams, you may notice patterns or trends that you would not otherwise see, but what do they mean? What sense can you make of them?

It may seem obvious, but if you have a dream, then each element has been created by you. It follows then that, as it is your creation, then some at least of its meaning may be particular to you. We all attach meanings to things in different ways.

Unwrapping layers of meaning can be a fascinating exploration – a window into a part of you that might otherwise be difficult to get to. The psychodynamic approach sees this as a part of you that is unconscious, outside of dreams; and so needs an indirect method to explore it.

This is not the only way of working psychodynamically – just one possible aspect to the work but it can be rewarding. Our dreams may tell us things about ourselves that could be not only interesting but also useful for our everyday lives. Carl Jung believed that our creative and spiritual sides are rooted in our unconscious and so exploring this domain can have positive results in our day-to-day lives. This exploration then may help us release potential that may otherwise have remained undiscovered; tapping in to a creative part of ourselves that we may not have been aware of previously.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author. All articles published on Counselling Directory are reviewed by our editorial team.

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