Dreaming in Sweden

Hi!

I´m a psychologist from Sweden. Ever since I was a child I have been intrested in dreams. It is actually a big reason to why I became a psychologist in the first place, even though I do not work that much with dreams in my practice. My interest in dreams have waxed and waned. Now I have gained a new boost in this interest and searched Google for "dreams discussion". This page was first on the list.

At the moment I´m not that intrested in the discussion about lucid dreamning (mayby later). Instead I will probably hang out a lot in the general dream discussion forum, especially the one about dream interpretation. It is in my experience that dreams can hold a great key to personal development, which is one of my favorite things in life. :)

So I hope you can help me, and I can help you, with our dreams and personal development.

Sweet dreams!
Sover

Hey there Sover, welcome to Dreamviews :)

Nice to know that you're a psychologist, it's also the field which I love and hope to work in some day. Are you an adept of Freud, or do you have any theory of dreams that you slip a bit more into? What's your work as a psychologist?

Any questions feel free to post them away, and have a good time around :)

Hello Sover, welcome to DV!

Enjoy browsing the forums, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. See ya around :)

Welcome Sover! I will see you in the dream interpretation section then since I like hanging out there often too, although it's not my only favorite section.

One thing I would like to suggest is that dream interpretation and lucid dreaming are definitely not mutually exclusive and can in fact work very well together as two powerful tools for self-improvement and could both be helpful in psychological treatment I believe.

Since you are already familiar with dream interpretation as a tool in improvement, allow me to mention a few reasons to consider lucid dreaming as another tool. First, lucid dreaming does not negate subconscious problem solving: if that is needed the subconscious will find a way to get it done. Lucid dreaming is a superb tool for dealing with nightmares, and the recommended way is not to escape but to face the nightmare and to transform it into an empowering experience. I can tell you from my own experience that the feeling of empowerment and ackomplishment in lucid dreaming is a good tool for dealing with self esteem and depression type issues. In fact I would say that lucid dreaming is especially useful in working to transform negative emotions into more positive ones. Furthermore, a lot of the preparatory steps for lucid dreaming (increased awareness, self-analysis, improved memory, reducing stress) are wonderful self-improvements with both dreaming and waking life benefits. The ways in which dream interpretation and lucid dreaming can be used together: lucid dreaming encourages the use of a dream journal and it gives one a motivation for keeping it up to date, you can then use the dream journal for self analysis and dream interpretation as well as looking for patterns (dream signs) to help one become lucid. Another powerful technique that is used in preparation for lucid dreaming is All Day Awareness (ADA), which encourages people to be more aware of cause and effect and also to be generally more aware in life, not just going through life on autopilot. Some people keep a waking journal. Waking life could then be analysed much like dream, especially considering why one had negative reactions and when and how one could change that. Once one has lucid dreams, one could use them to practice self improvement skills, to change negative emotions to positive ones, to seek out problems and rehearse solutions in dreams (for example: rehearse a reconciliation speech with an estranged relative, or personify drugs and just say NO to them in one's dream). Since even in a lucid dream one can usually not control everything, for example while one controls what one says, one does not control what others respond, so there is plenty of content to interpret. Self interpretation can even start in the dream, and one can question dream elements to understand them better: ask a nightmare character why he is chasing you, why this is happening to you. The answers may be very useful, though they may not be literal and may require later interpretation.

I hope to have given you some additional food for thought for why considering adding lucid dreaming to your tool kit may be a good idea. However, even if you decide not to, I agree that dream interpretation can be a powerful tool in and of itself, and lucid dreaming is certainly not necessary (it's just another tool - albeit it a fun and potentially useful one as well).

Hello Zoth, paigeyemps and JoannaB!

It's nice to be welcomed.

Zoth!
I actually have the swedish first edition of Die Traumdeutung. But I tend to like Jung more when it comes to the interpretation of dreams. I guess I have also somewhat devolped my one way of looking at dreams. Some of them have probably also been influnced by behavioral psychology, which I use a lot in my practice. Consequenses from behaviors in your dreams can be a bit more mysterious though than in waking life.

I work in an outpatient psychiatry for adults. So I work mostly with psychotherapy and neuropsychiatric evaluations. In psychotherapy I mostly work with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and some Dialectic behavior therapy. In ACT you work a lot with metaphors, so I have found that dreamwork can be implementet in that work. Using the patients own metaphors is so much more powerful.

JoannaB!
I do have some experience using lucid dreaming. My first experiences happened spontaneously. Then I learned some ways to achieve this state. It seemed to me that generally if I used to much control over the dream I woke up, and if I let go of the control I sort of slipped in to ordinary dreaming. Using memory to create things was really hard. Controling things was easy in a way, but it could have weird consequences. One of the things I remember best is when I created a random human maker. It was a doorway who created random humans (some really strange). Once I created it I couldn't make it stop though. :)

That ADA you are talking about, sounds a lot like behavior analysis combined with mindfulness. Both of which I have worked a lot with in my work. It is good stuff. Plus I add some other good stuff to, like acceptance, defusion and work with values. :) Talking about acceptance I personally prefer that to trying to change my emotions and thoughts.

Do you, or anyone else here have experience achieving hypnogogic states?

/Sover