1. ED_620
Deb Carney
Summer 2010
“What you resist
Persist”
Carl Gustav Jung

2. The clinical work of dream
interpretation, involves three things
 First, you need a written
text of the dream. It’s
best if you write it down
right after you wake up
from the dream. But
sometimes it’s possible
to remember a dream—
or a dream fragment—
that you haven’t written
down, and so your
psychotherapist can
write down what you say.

3. Second, you have to describe thoroughly and
understand your psychological associations to the
various dream images.
 These associations must come
from your personal life, not from
a “dictionary” of fixed meanings.
Essentially, this amounts to
asking, “When you think of this
particular dream image, what
other things come to mind?”
Dreaming of Mrs. Smith from
your childhood, for example,
doesn’t necessarily “mean”
anything, but what you thought
about Mrs. Smith when you were
a child—in essence, what her life,
behaviors, and values suggested
to you then—might have
something to say about the
problems you struggle with
today.

4. Third, you have to discover the
links between all these
associations.This process is a bit like those
“connect the dots” puzzles that reveal
a hidden picture. Psychologically, you
simply need to understand what this
net of associations from the dream is
telling you specifically, at this precise
time of your life, about your current
problems and conflicts. Quite often,
these associations are purely
emotional; that is, you can take a
particularly graphic dream image,
examine your emotional reactions to
it, look back into your past for times
when you felt the same emotions, and
then ask yourself in what way those
situations from the past have any
bearing on what is happening in your
life now.

5. Although dream dictionaries give meanings to dreams and various ways of
dream interpretations exist, dream psychology believes that the association
between objects dreamt and their meanings is subjective. What is indicated
by a particular dream depends on what the dreamer associates the
elements of his dream with. It is suggested to write down your dream and
decipher what each of the constituents of the dream convey. It is important
to understand what you associate with a particular thing you’ve dreamed
of. The thought or emotion that you get in relation to a certain color, object
or a person in your dream, can serve as a clue to interpret your dreams.
After having a dream, you can write down what you can remember ,
identify your psychological associations with the dream images and link all
of them. More than what the elements of your dream symbolize, it is about
what the elements mean to you.
By Manali Oak

6. The Symbolic Language of Dreams
Jung stated that, “ all we need is
assistance in seeing the dream more
clearly and more objectively.

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8. “Dreams do not necessarily assume a logical
chronological order according to Jung. Dreams cluster
around a “nucleus of meaning”
 “We can do much on
our own to
determine what our
dreaming is all
about, since the
dreamer ultimately
has the last word
about the meaning of
a dream. (Pascal, pg.
223)”

9. Dreams are thoughts, emotions and the images shaped by them, which are
encountered when asleep. One has dreams during the rapid eye movement sleep.
Various theories on dream interpretations exist but the real purpose of dreams is still
unknown. Dreams are closely associated with the human psychology. Research shows
that during an average lifespan, a human being spends about six years in dreaming
which is around two hours every night
 Rocky shore, ocean, sunset, cool
feeling in the air, Blue, pink,
purple, few clouds in the sky… Is
the tide in or out?

10. The meaning that
any symbol takes
on in your
particular dream,
can only be
determined by you.
Some theories say
that dreams involve
one's repressed
emotions that are
fantasized during
the sleep while
other theories
suggest dreams to
be an outcome of
the cleaning-up
operations of the
brain.

11. Acquiring the ability to interpret your dreams is a
powerful tool. In analyzing your dreams, you can learn
about your deep secrets and hidden feelings. Remember
that no one is a better expert at interpreting your dreams
than yourself. It is you who know best what the symbols
mean to you.

12.  Every detail, even the minutest element in
your dream is important and must be considered
when analyzing your dreams. Each symbol
represents a feeling, a mood, a memory or
something from your unconscious. Look closely
at the characters, animals, objects, places,
emotions, and even colors and numbers that are
depicted in your dreams. Even the most trivial
symbol can be significant. Your own personal
experiences, memories and circumstances, will
serve to guide you through a meaningful and
personalized interpretation.

13. One curious feature of dreaming is the way that close
friends or members of the same family, particularly husband
and wife or parents and children, will dream the same dream
without previously having told it to each other. Still more
curious is the way that children dream about their parents'
problems, when these have been carefully hidden from them.
The dream is not usually a straightforward statement, but is
symbolical and often picturesque in manner.

14.  Dreams often mean the opposite
of what they seem to mean. The
technical, psychoanalytic
explanation for this is
complicated, but it has to do with
the fact that we often see our own
desires as they are reflected (and
mirror-reversed) through others.
For example, if you dream that
you’re embarrassed for being in
public without clothes, it likely
means that you have a deep
unconscious need for some
hidden aspect of your being to be
shown to others in its “naked
truth.”
 Dreams are always “true”—it’s just that
what they mean isn’t always what we
think they mean. Sometimes a dream
gives a warning of danger, but if you pay
attention to the dream and change your
ways the danger won’t necessarily
happen. And most often a dream’s
meaning will be metaphorical, not literal.
For example, a woman may dream that
her husband is having a sexual affair, but
it would be a mistake to conclude that
her husband is really having an affair.
The dream is simply providing the
woman graphic evidence that she
somehow feels betrayed by her husband.
Once she acknowledges that feeling, she
can then start examining her life
consciously—and honestly—to find out
why she feels betrayed and what she
needs to do about it.

15. Repetitive dreams
indicate that you are
continuing to miss the
point about the
meaning of the dream.
If you don’t “wake up”
to the unconscious
meaning of the dream
but instead persist in
seeing it through your
own wish-fulfillment
needs, you will remain
stuck in your own self-
deception. The
psychoanalytic concept
of repetition can be
difficult to understand.

16. Hebrews -dreams were a vision or prophecy from a god (keep in mind that we see
monotheism emerging here)
Hindus -dreams are prophetic, and the timing of the dream will indicate how
soon the prophecy will come to pass
Japanese -dreams are sought as visions to help answer questions that are plaguing
the waking self. Usually the answers come from ancestral spirits.
Muslims -dreams and astrology are closely related in this culture. True dreams
come from god, false ones from the devil.
Australian Aborigines -the spirits from underground rise and wander in the land
of the living, and when they pass through a mortal being, a "greater vision" is
momentarily acquired.. this would be what we call a dream
North American Indians -hidden wished of the soul are addressed and fulfilled
in dreams. Visions can also be sought after in the hopes of answering a question or
resolving a conflict.

17. What should you record? Basically everything,
uncensored, as you remember them... do not worry about
proper English for this part. To be more specific write
down:>
dialogue or any words
the number and types of people (friends, strangers,
relatives)
objects
the mood of the dream (happy, sad, scary, etc.)
settings
themes
events
timing in the dream
relations to the dream and you (are you an observer,
participant, seeing yourself as player?)

18. The blood-thirsty aspect of the
mythic Nightmare, however, can
give a good clue about nightmares
in general, for in psychodynamic
terms nightmares are graphic
depictions of raw, primitive
emotions such as aggression and
rage that have not been
incorporated into the conscious
psyche. Thus we tend to encounter
these “ugly” aspects of our
unconscious lives as terrifying
dream images in whose presence
we feel completely helpless.
Nightmares are quite common in
childhood because this is a time
of our emotional development
when we all have to come to
terms with, well, raw, primitive
emotions such as aggression and
rage.

19. Traumatic nightmares
can also occur as one
of the many
symptoms of
posttraumatic stress
disorder (PTSD).
Repetitive, intrusive
nightmares following
a trauma often
contain symbolic
themes that mirror
the original trauma
and relate to threat to
life, threat of
abandonment or
death, or loss of
identity. Although
exploration of these
themes in
psychotherapy can
promote improved
personal adjustment,
the nightmares may
continue to persist
despite any symbolic
interpretation.

20. Remember to “listen” to your dreams as they speak to
you in the language of symbols.
 archetypes - emotionally charged images and
thoughts, that have universal meaning, irregardless of
who expresses them according to Carl Jung.
 Keep a journal and begin to understand what
your dream symbols mean. Once y0u understand
them you will begin to put in place the pieces of
the puzzle that each color, shape, person,
element, or any other thing that plays out in the
theater of your mind shall become part of your
story.

21. Thank you for listening and viewing

22. References
 http://www.psychologycampus.com/dream-
psychology/
 http://www.psychologycampus.com/dream-
psychology/
 http://mythsdreamssymbols.com/
 http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200710/
dreams-night-school
 http://www.guidetopsychology.com/dreams.htm