Spo-fans have asked about dream analysis, so I thought I would write on this.

The interpretation of dreams goes back to ancient times. Dreams have always been thought to hold meaning or herald the future. Whatever dream analysis approach is used, the common principle is dreams get us into contact with material the conscious either can’t or won’t address.

There are many ways to interpret dreams. One hypothesis is dreams do NOT have any meaning. Dreaming is a sort of neurological necessity of cleansing the mind (and why this is necessary for the mind to do, we do not know). I don’t agree with the approach all dreams are meaningless, but this is more true when people take antidepressants that effect serotonin levels (Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, and Effexor and Cymbalta, to name a few). These medications play havoc on dream work – patients who take them often report ‘vivid and weird dreams’. I assure them it is a side effect of meds and the contents are not worth analyzing the majority of the time.

While I believe dreams hold meaning, there are a lot of dreams that are not important or ‘numinous’. Analyzing dreams is like panning for gold; most dream contents are sand; but a few nuggets are golden.

Sorting through the bits to separate the messages from the random typewriting is a challenge.

Before I get to Jung, let me tell you about the Freudian approach. Based on the Freudian axiom the unconscious is trying to work through repressed conflicts, dream work displays repressed and conflict matters in disguised and symbolic form. The goal of Freudian dream analysis is reductive; distill all these mysterious elements down to ‘the point’. The dream work is personal, about your own psyche.

Jung took an a different approach; the Freudian approach is applied to only some dreams. In Jungian dream work, the dream components are expanded rather than ‘shrunk’. The elements in a dream are developed to learn more about them. And a crucial difference – some dreams are about the Collective Unconscious. The numinous dreams coming from the Collective are about your relationship to the Archetypes, not to personal past events. Jung thought these dreams more relevant towards the growth of the Self.

The main influences in a dream:

What medications, drugs or alcohol you are taking.

What you did and ate in the past 24 hours.

What is coming up in your life

What is on your conscious mind.

The elements of the Personal unconscious

And (for Jung) the elements of the Collective Unconscious.

In Jungian analysis of dream work, everybody in the dream more or less represents an element of yourself; they are complexes in your Psyche. So the people you recognize are not really just about ‘you mother’ or ‘your partner’. These everyday characters play roles for things ineffable. Like a director in a play, your mind borrows every day people to be actors to play out complexes and archetypes. After expansion, the elements are examined to see the present structure and strengths of your Ego to the complexes. Once in a while an image seems to pack a punch or seems ‘raw’; these are usually coming from the collective; they need more careful attention.

No therapist relies solely on one way to analyze dreams. Sometimes a dream is ‘nonsense’; some times the Freudian approach feels apt. Sometimes dreams are more superficial and simple; they don’t need much analysis. Once in while they are ‘numinous’ they are directly connecting you to something more than yourself.

Patient fret if they can only recall a bit of a dream that felt important. Not to worry – you will remember the important bits, or the important items will return.

Psyche keeps knocking until you get it.