Every dream has many layers of meaning. Every object, person, and situation in a dream may have meanings. Take your time, work, and explore the many aspects and angles of a dream ~and then its many meanings will begin to reveal themselves.
Working with dreams is more like playing with it ~the kind of play that involves creativity, imagination, and willingness to experiment. It also requires practice.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Keep a pad of paper (notebook) and pen/pencil by your bed. Record your dreams as soon as you awake for a period of two weeks.
2) Analyze your dreams using the following criteria:
a. What are the issues of your dreams
b. How are these issues related to your real life circumstances.
c. What are your feelings of the dream.
d. What, if anything, do you want to avoid or accomplish in your dreams?
e. Analyze the people in your dream. Do you know them? Who or what do they represent?
o HELPFUL HINTS
o Free associate---take each object, person, etc. and free associate to them, one at a time. What does it remind you of? What comes to mind? Come up with as many associations as possible.
o Free Writing---write down a stream of consciousness reaction to the dream. Start anywhere and keep writing whatever comes to mind. Don’t censor or edit anything.
*Write down each element & then write a stream of consciousness for each one. Look for similarities and patterns.
o Day Residue---Examine your thoughts and feelings about the events of the day; this will help you understand the dream and why it is “commenting” on these events.
o Dream Intangibles---Don’t just focus on people and events consider also: feeling tone, colors, time and space, and missing and vague parts.
o Connections Among Dreams—look for similar patterns or themes across your dreams. How are the recurring dreams similar to each other? Different? Are they changing over time?
o Think Unusual---Things can mean exactly the opposite in a dream. Something you fear may be something you unconsciously wish for. Try exaggerating some important aspects of the dream. Try reversing the important elements in the dream.
o For each dream, ask yourself, “What is the problem? How am I reacting to it? Is the dream suggesting a solution?”
o Anxiety in a dream usually indicates a point where important, perhaps threatening, ideas are surfacing from the unconscious. The anxiety is a signal.
o Where are you---The most obvious place is the dream ego (Jung). This dream ego is the person having the experiences that make up the dream. They usually don’t know they are dreaming.
*Compare yourself with the person in your dream. How are you the same? Different? Is the person in the dream some hidden part of you ~ some part you wish for, need, or fear?
GRADING CRITERIA:
o 3-5 pages double spaced typed
o dream journal