Specific Dream, Generic Insight
Walter Logeman walter@psybernet.co.nz
Originally a post
to Dreamevent 1999 - 2000
Date: Sat,
01 Jan 2000
Dreams are expressions from the depths, the unconscious, the psyche, whatever we call it. These expressions from the depths are a common source to some or all of these six levels:
A familiar example of a dream working at more than one level from individual psychotherapy is where dreams, even if they are more immediately about the client's life, can shed interesting light on the therapeutic relationship. It is not always appropriate to draw attention to this, however sometimes this immediacy is very fruitful.
Freud said, I believe, that the real therapy begins when the "patient's neurosis" happens in the consulting room. I know this is not therapy and we are not doing analysis, however I think the dreams are revealing their riches when we see them operating at several or even all of these levels. If a dream seems to be overtly about, say, childhood, that does not mean it is not! However, the light shed on another level might be equally relevant.
Of course in all of this the dreamer knows best, about the dreamer's experience.
It is a simple and inclusive approach, however, sometimes people want to exclude levels or work at only one of them. I am thinking of people who want to exclude or be exclusive about, say, the developmental level, or the archetypal level. I tend to be reluctant to delve into some more esoteric transpersonal interpretations.
The online experience, the virtual here and now, can be particularly close to the psychological, imaginal depths of dreams and so this phenomena, of dreams being easily seen as a comment on the online experience, esprcially in online dream sharing, happens a lot.
Discussion of this idea and others like it is on topic for Psyber-L, and some people here who are not familiar with the group might like to join the ongoing group. Check out:
http://psybernet.co.nz/psyber-l.htm
Version:
Originally a post to Dreamevent, Subject: Re: All the Right Moves, Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2000
Edited for a web version 9 January 2000