The interpretation of dreams has been a popular activity since the 1970s. However, psychologists have been debating what dreams mean since the late nineteenth century. Freud believed that dreams were an individual’s wish fulfillment; however, his student Carl Jung believed that dreams were the expression of repressed wishes and resulted from an under-developed psyche. Still, the debate rages on. Some psychologists believe that dreams might have no real meaning at all.
Dreams are different for each individual, and they can provide a fascinating insight into a person’s unconscious mind. This article explains how psychologists interpret dreams.
Start With a Dream Diary
According to the team at http://www.psychicliving.net/psychology-and-dream-interpretations/, in order to get a professional psychologist’s help with interpreting dreams, it is best to start by recording your dreams in a dream diary or journal. A psychologist needs material to work with, and as dreams can be hard to remember, you will want to be able to bring something to share with the psychologist.
Recording your dream will help you remember what happened. Taking notes might also improve how much you can remember over time. While you might begin by not remembering anything and simply writing “no dreams last night,” in a few weeks you might remember your dreams in extreme detail. The more detail you have, the more material a psychologist has to help you interpret the dreams.
How Did You Feel?
Next, a psychologist will help with dream interpretations by asking how the dream made you feel. Again, it is a good idea to record your feelings in a dream diary. A psychologist will ask whether a certain dream made you feel happy, uncomfortable, scared, or angry. Your response will help them provide you with the dream’s meaning.
What Do You Notice During the Day?
The more you notice and can share with a psychologist, the more the psychologist can help with dream interpretations. For example, it is good to make a note of any reoccurring dreams, or of any situations that occur during the day that then make their way into your dreams.
Psychologists Need to Talk With You
You will need to do a fair amount of work ahead of time before you visit a psychologist. Psychologists are not mind readers and no mystical crystal balls are used; they can’t read your mind so you need to bring material to help with the interpretation. Once you’ve provided them with all the information listed above, they will need to speak with you. They will ask you to remember more elements of the dream, like how you saw the dream and who else was there. Speaking with a psychologist might help you remember more than you originally remembered on your own.
It’s also important to remember that a psychologist likely won’t refer to a dream dictionary. While some symbols might have a universal meaning, it’s more likely that a certain symbol is unique to each individual. A psychologist needs to know the larger context of your life and personality in order to help you fully interpret a dream.
A psychologist understands that people aren’t like textbooks; each person is a new discovery and needs to be treated uniquely. While your method of collecting information on dreams might be the same as your friend’s method, a psychologist will treat each person differently into order to properly interpret dreams.
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