epiphany...

i had one this morning, whilst telling ben about one of my very abstract dreams...

i'm studying counselling (most of you will know this already) and in all trainee counsellors curriculum is a significant chunk of psychodynamic therapy (or freudian analysis). and you might be wondering why? well even though there is much criticism these days of freud's theories and in some instances his techniques, he is undoubtedly the father of therapy as we know it (so those of you that have benefited from therapy ultimately have him to thank!)...

one of the techniques that psychotherapists use is 'free association'...you may or may not know that a significant component of the therapeutic work in a psychodynamic relationship is based on the dreams of the client and more specifically where the client themselves free associates about the dream they had...free associating meaning simply that the client talks about the dream and what they think it means and anything else that comes to mind - it's reasonably unstructured and usually not driven by the therapist (ie no questions etc)...

well until this morning i had understood and grasped the concept in a purely theoretical text book sense - then this morning, as i'm telling benny my dream and trying to think about what it might mean given what's going on in my life right now - it hit me! this is the value of free association

see it's easy to tell someone your dream and have them try and 'analyse' it for you - but they aren't inside your head, they aren't seeing the world the way you do, they aren't reacting to the things in your life the way you do, so no matter how much of your life you choose to share with them, they simply aren't you!

and maybe just maybe this free association, this analysing your own dreams is the key to moving the unconscious into the conscious...

you know what? i think mr freud was onto something...