Our dreams tell strange stories, or fragments of stories, in which barely recognized actors move to obscure purposes. We find ourselves in those dreams thrown into fantastic situations where the settings may be vaguely familiar, but the circumstances may be bizarre or impossible. The themes may be of something wonderful, like bringing someone back to life, or dreadful, with monsters and worse. Inexplicable happenings in the dreams push us one way or another against our will. Although the dreams do not make obvious sense, it seems like there is a meaning just beneath the surface. People have always endeavored to make sense of their dreams.
Because dreams seem redolent with obscure meanings, they have been considered carefully throughout history by savants, priests, and such. For long periods of time, dreams were thought to provide insight into future happenings. It was fashionable in those days to recognize portents in astrology and in other forms of divination, and especially in dreams. Joseph interpreted the Pharaoh’s dreams successfully, reading a remarkably detailed future, and was rewarded. More recently, at a time when educated people no longer believed that anyone could predict the future, they still searched for hidden psychological meanings in dreams. Freud described dreams as “the royal road to the unconscious,” and the interpretation of dreams became a central tenet of psychoanalysis. Human beings are mysterious, and it was appealing to think that that mystery could be solved by solving the mystery of dreams.
Freud spoke of symbols in dreams. Something could appear in a dream disguised as something else. The disguise could be recognized because the symbolic object was similar in appearance or in some other way. Some symbols were so suggestive that they represented the same thing to everyone. These were called universal symbols. Freud was concerned especially by the sexual aspects of life; and many of these universal symbols were supposed to refer to the sexual organs. For instance, guns symbolized the penis. There is, indeed, something of the shape and function of guns that does suggest the male genitals in some way, although I think guns in dreams could just as easily be referring to the threat of violence. In my experience—which is just one clinician’s experience—guns in dreams are relatively uncommon; although I think they might very well appear more frequently in the dreams of people who live in areas where guns, themselves, are more common. Freud also thought paper and wood were universal symbols for the female genitals. That strikes me as silly. Maybe they suggested the female genitalia to Freud, but surely not to everyone. It may be that there are, in fact, certain objects that appear in dreams and tend to refer typically to certain other things. I have noticed, for example, that women who dream of their living quarters or articles of their dress, are sometimes expressing feelings they have about their body. But, maybe not. I do not think therapists should spend a lot of time figuring out what a particular object in a dream refers to; it is the feeling expressed in the dream that is important. I think those feelings are invariably an expression of feelings that person has during waking hours.
Dreams are tantalizing. A therapist and a patient can get lost looking for hidden treasures in dreams. There is always more to discover. Since dream interpretation is always speculative, someone can endlessly explore dreams to the exclusion of dealing with the more intractable, but more important, problems of ordinary, waking life. A patient of Freud, a phobic, had a dream of wolves in a tree; and that dream became the basis for his therapy for the next number of years. His case is often given as an example of a successful psychoanalysis. I think what really happened was the Russian revolution. The man, who was in the habit of retiring with his valet to a sanatorium whenever he became symptomatic, lost all his money and had to go to work. He improved forthwith.
Because feelings in dreams are the same as those the person has when awake, they usually come up for discussion in the context of everyday matters. Still, not always. Some patients are not always aware of what they are feeling. Sometimes, it is easier for them to acknowledge those feelings as they appear in dreams. For that reason, and because dreams are sort-of interesting in their own right, I mention below dreams which seem to be common and not much different from one person to the next. I indicate the emotions I think they express.
1. The dreamer is late to an examination for which he/she is not prepared. Sometimes the room where the examination is being held cannot be located. Sometimes the examination is on a subject the dreamer has not studied. The feeling expressed is of a particular kind of anxiety: being called on to perform beyond the person’s ability. Or so it seems to the dreamer.
2. The dreamer finds himself/herself in a hotel corridor, naked or in underwear. The dreamer is unable to find, or get into his/her room. The feeling: embarrassment, possibly a feeling of not measuring up.
3. The dreamer is running away from a monster, or a mob. The feeling: fear, often of particular people. I had one patient who progressed through a number of stages in treatment with this dream. As he became more self-confident, the dream changed. At first, the monster was chasing him. He could not run fast enough, (sometimes in slow motion) and as the monster reached for him, he woke up. Then, in a subsequent dream: when the monster chased him, he was able to turn and face the monster before waking up. In a later dream: he struggled with the monster before waking up. Then, in a final dream, he beat up the monster, and did not wake up. And then the dream came no more.
4. The dreamer is not very upset, but is trying unsuccessfully to get home. One bus, or subway train, goes in a slightly wrong direction, the next bus connection which promises to take the dreamer home by a more circuitous route somehow goes nevertheless in a slightly wrong direction. This may happen a third time. And the dreamer wakes up before making it all the way home. The feeling: a sense of frustration. sometimes possibly related to work.
5. Returning to college or graduate school in order to take the same degree a second time. Feeling: not so obvious. I think it often represents career dissatisfaction or a sense of not having accomplished much. It has seemed to me sometimes that this dream reflected some optimism.
6. Missing front teeth. I think the feeling represented may be one of two: a sense of dissatisfaction with one’s appearance, (embarrassment or shame) or a sense of being helpless(unable to assert oneself.)
7. The dreamer is swimming in a lake or in the ocean and cannot climb out of the water because of rocks or because the lake is bordered by unscaleable cliffs. The feeling: dread. A sense of helplessness.
There are other such recurrent dreams. The feelings expressed in all these dreams are more precise–although different from one person to the next– than the brief descriptions I give above.
In therapy, discussing such dreams should not be an opportunity for the therapist to display how clever he is. Dreams are simply a jumping off point for discussing the problems the patient has coping with current aspects of his/her life. (c) Fredric Neuman 2012
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