Dream Analysis: Does It Really Work?

During sleep, our brain continues to work and process information while our body rests actively. This is why we see dreams. Dream interpretation may seem like simple fun to some, but it is a convenient tool for introspection and a source of data about the human psyche. So what is dream analysis, and does it really work?

What Is Dream Analysis?

Dream analysis or interpretation is the process by which you or another person (e.g., your therapist) examines your dreams for hidden meanings. While skeptics consider dreams to be nothing more than a collection of scattered pictures, experts agree they can provide a much deeper understanding of a person’s problems.

In dreams, we usually see events, things, places, and people we interacted with the previous day. It is believed that in most cases, in a dream, we react to incidents the same way as in real life. It gives scientists and researchers reason to consider dreams a vital component connecting our conscious and unconscious. By decoding, you can better understand yourself and your intentions and adjust and change your attitude to work on reality.

How to Conduct Self-Analysis?

Sleep is extremely important for our well-being and physical health. At the same time, scientists have not yet come to a single answer to why we see dreams. Among the most common psychoanalytic practices now mentioned are the theories of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Calvin S. Hall, and others. Their concepts were quite different, but they had one thing in common — the belief that dreams allow you to look deep into the patient’s consciousness.

You don’t have to go to a therapist to try to decipher the meanings of your dreams. You can try it yourself first:

1. Keep a dream diary. You are unlikely to be able to remember all the details of a dream to decipher them during the day. To avoid missing anything important, write down and, if you have such skills, sketch the images you dreamed about.
2. Surface analysis. The recorded dream should first be studied for obvious, lying on the surface pictures. Pay attention to what emotions you experienced, what colors you saw, and what symbols you came across.
3. Deep analysis. A clear image may have a deeper connotation depending on the individual situation. Therefore, dreams should be evaluated through the prism of your life. Perhaps what you saw in a dream resonates with real events, e.g., your anxiety regarding something in real life has acquired the image of a strict boss in a dream.

Many items have established meanings in terms of dream analytics. However, they can mean different things to different people depending on their experience. For example, seeing a large and heavy table, one person will be glad that they can gather the whole family behind it; the other will feel lonely because they have no one to invite to this table. When analyzing dreams and interpreting images, looking at the picture as a whole is essential: to see obvious things and determine hidden subtext. By doing it regularly, you will be able to develop intuitions and better understand your attitude to events in real life.

Do you agree with the theory that dreams reflect our subconscious? Do you look for answers to your questions in them? Did you manage to find them?