A Dream Interpreted

In a nutshell the client is a smart, intelligent professional and spiritually inclined woman. She is in her late forties, married and with a son, a history and current condition of depression.

The dream

She is in her parent’s home, sleeping on a cot/bed. She hears someone in the other room and gets the feeling that someone is trying to break in. she goes to the kitchen and sees someone is trying to get in through the window. She is curious to see who it is. She sees a face peering in from behind the curtain, it is a woman. She threatens the intruder with a pair of scissors that she has in her hand. The intruder is taken aback and falls down from the first floor ledge. She is concerned about the intruder and goes down to see if she is okay.

She has a talk with the intruder, asking her why she was trying to break in. the intruder tells her it is because of some gynecological problems. She tells her the name of her own gynecologist , in whom she has a lot of trust. She says the name clearly and emphatically. XYZ XYZ (an actual name).

The interpretation

The interpretation was done in keeping with a Jungian framework. Here all the elements in the dream are taken to be aspects of one-self and then one sees how they fit into a coherent pattern within the dream.

Her associations with her parents’ home are of safety and security. She is lying on the bed relaxed and relatively free of day-to-day demands. She senses the intruder and rather than hiding or cowering she chooses to face the person. This is according to her unlike her everyday self, who might have chosen some other means of protecting herself rather than confronting the fear.

In the last session we had tried to look into her past as in her childhood, to identify any incidents or such like that might have been traumatic and which she has chosen to block out and which might be contributing to her current and longstanding depression. We had tried this because the client feels that there are a lot things she does not remember and she does not feel really connected to the emotional content of her memories. So the act of confronting the fear tallied with that. And also the fact that she was in her parent’s home (tied to her childhood) rather than her current home with husband and child.

She sees the face of a woman peering in, which classically would be seen as the therapist peering into the subconscious mind of the client; but within the Jungian framework is also an aspect of the client herself trying to look into her own mind and its hidden recesses. The client though a little scared is not daunted by this intrusion and instead defends her space with the help of a pair of scissors.

When asked what the pair of scissors signified or the associations it brought up she said it reminded her of the scissors at home which are constantly getting displaced and are very useful and needed every now and then. So in some way they signified order and a measure of control that gives her a sense of power. Armed with these scissors she succeeds in warding of impending danger.

She also had another association to the scissors which came from a book on psychic protection. She had spoken of lending me that book once earlier as well. In that a golden pair of scissors is used to cut of any negative ties to protect the person from any psychic attack or energy drainage. Thus the scissors were doubly effective imbued with the strength of a daily routine and schedule as well as a psychic power.

The intruder is thrown off balance and falls back. The defensive measures are thus effective. The client is relieved to have thwarted the threat to the sanctity of her space but also concerned about the plight of the intruder. She is concerned about the part of herself that wants to dig into the subconscious even while sending out a clear message that such a venture is not to be undertaken. She is saying, back off but without anger or fear. And she also has compassion for that part of herself.

She goes down and converses with the intruder. So there is dialog between aspects of herself. She was not clear what exactly was said but that there were some gynecological problems and she tries to help her by recommending her own doctor in whom she has trust. The doctor is the competent, knowledgeable, reliable and trustworthy part of herself. She says the name out loud and clear. Her clarity in her mental faculties and her trust in them is part of the solution.

One clear message I got from the dream was to not try to look for any traumatic events from childhood. Classically it might be interpreted as fear and defensiveness but I choose to respect the client’s space and go with what they are offering and honor that, rather than to dig into private places intrusively and forcibly. Of course I also ask many personal questions and unearth a lot of repressed material but I do this remaining sensitive to the client’s pace and level of dis/comfort.

The way forward with her (in particular) is not to look for past ghosts but to lay them to rest and move toward light and life affirming thoughts and insights…… when and if the past resurfaces we can look at it but we do not need to chase it.