I'm not by any means a qualified psychologist, but I have read a hell of a lot that they've had to say on dreams. If your dreams have a lot of recurring detail, and are vivid and terrifying every night, the chances are there's quite a bit of stuff going on in them that demands close attention. The following is my approach to nightmares, and I am by no means recommending it to anyone else, just detailing the methods I use:
Remember, everything that you encounter in dreams is a part of yourself externalised (I actually think it's slightly more complex, but as a general rule of thumb). The only real way to deal with nightmares is therefore to face up to them, even if it terrifies you. Firstly, I would recommend to everyone to keep a dream journal, and diligently write down everything you experience in the present tense as soon as you wake up, including exact details of how it makes you feel. It's sometimes worth lying in bed in the same position as when you awoke, becuase often more of the dream can be recalled this way.
There are many ways of investigating the contents of your dreams. Don't be limited by any one way: dreams are the distillation of our entire experience, and will resist attempts at being pigeonholed by certain theories of interpretation (mine seem to enjoy flouting contemporary theories that are too rigid). It may not be beneficial to do the work of interpreting them by yourself, especially if they cause you so much distress. In this case, get a therapist to look through them with you. From my experience, someone froma Jungian background may well be helpful, as this school of thought is the most open minded I've encountered to dreams and what they mean.
There are techniques that you can practise to control your dreams. Steven LaBerge's "Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming" is excellent, and avoids all the dumb belief system crap that comes with most dream manuals. I've got quite a detailed study lying around somewhere about the therapeutic benefits of lucid dreaming, particularly in dealing with nightmare, but like any skill it might take a while to get to grips with. There are also techniques of dream incubation that you can try (focused intent on having certain kinds of dream experience), but I've culled these from books that I wouldn't wholly recommend to anyone. There are also techniques that you can practise to re-enter specific dreams after you wake up. These last ones are based on adapted shamanic journeying skills, so again I'd be hesitant to recommend them to anyone, especially if you're doing it by yourself. However, none of these techniques is a substitute for thorough journalling and honest self examination with an expert. With all of these ideas, it's best to have someone with a qualification to help walk you through what you're experiencing, and to find a way to integrate it into your life.
Dunno if any of that has been helpful. I would avoid posting transcripts of your dreams to any message board unless you're in a stable enough frame of mind to deal with comments that may be off-beam. |
