Initial Therapy Dreams
This is a subset of a broader list of initiations, ordeals & rites of passage--here, you'll find initial dreams, dreams starting the process of dreamwork or therapy. A few here aren't the first dream in therapy; they warn a dreamer away from a particular therapist or therapy, like Her Hands are Tied. A few more dreams, like Dark Lord Battle and Alan's Office, are from later in therapy; a client (especially if inexperienced) can be slow to recognize a poor fit (or outright incompetence, or criminality; see Ayres).
One type isn't here: I've never found a dream warning a dreamer away from dreamwork itself. Individual mentors, sure--but never the process.
RELATED TOPICS: initiations, ordeals & rites of passage - sexual awakening & coming of age - dreamwork in general - therapy & therapists - See also the full INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
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ALAN'S OFFICE: by Wayan, 1992/4/28; , a dream advising a different therapist I had a chronic illness doctors said was psychosomatic. So I called Alan, a therapist... I dream I'm in his office. It's a nook in a basement. No windows, no door, no privacy. I was so desperate I went to him for six months, while he ignored everything I said... |
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AYRES: by Wayan; alarming nondream discovery 2006/5/4, and subsequent revelations The therapist my parents made me see as a kid got convicted of molesting his child clients. But not all. I played an evasive waiting game for three awful years under his leering scrutiny. So, can evading a molester still traumatize? Oh yes... CAUTION: CHILD NEGLECT & ABUSE |
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BEETLE: by Daniel Quinn; spring 1941; a life-defining shamanic dream A black beetle insists I'm not needed or at home in the human world; my lifework is elsewhere... |
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BUFFALO PERSON: by Plenty Coups, summer 1857; a child's time-traveling, tribe-saving dream I was led into the future, where all the buffalo disappeared, to meet a frail old man by a ranch house... |
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COWBOY, HORSE, CAT: by Rick Veitch, Nov 1973, an initiatory dream A graduation parade has a papier-maché cowboy (hollow ego?), a giant rampaging stallion (unconscious), and a mama cat who calms him (anima)... |
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CRAZY HORSE'S DREAM: by Crazy Horse; summer 1854 (age 11-12) a life-predicting dream I saw a man riding across the face of a lake. Bullets and arrows flew at him, but all missed. He reached the shore. Men who looked like him rose from the ground, and pulled him down... CAUTION: GENOCIDE DIRECT, GENOCIDE BY PROXY |
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CUT-RATE TREATMENT: by Wayan; 1993/8/10, a tale half-dreamed, half-lived. That day, I met a wildly neurotic therapist; that night, I met a woman forced to get discount ob/gyn exams from her stingy husband's doctor buddy... can you say "boundary violation?" CAUTION: SEXUAL HUMILIATION |
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DARK LORD BATTLE: by Gayle Delaney, 1970 or '71?, a therapist-evaluation dream I had to face the Dark Lord. But my inexperienced therapist was unprepared for the battle--he hadn't even put his shoes on! I told him the dream; he got defensive. I switched to a veteran therapist and got much better feedback... |
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DOCTOR OR LOVER? by Norma, as told to Gayle Delaney, 1994 or before; a therapist-inadequacy dream? SITUATION: I was attracted to my prospective therapist. I asked my dreams what to do... DREAM: His wife vanishes. We get in bed. I feel such love I ignore how tiny his penis is... AFTER: In the morning, I decide I'd be wise to work with a different therapist... CAUTION: SEX |
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DREAMRIDER: by Wayan; 1986/4/15, a short, startled rant, chapter 5 of UNICORN TAG. A novel on a modern woman called to become a shaman echoes my real life way too closely for comfort... |
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HER HANDS ARE TIED: by Wayan, 1992/4/17, a dream advising a different therapist I had a chronic illness doctors said was psychosomatic. So I saw Ani, a therapist... I dream we're prisoners. Ani leads a successful escape, but then walks around oblivious that her hands are still tied! I offer to untie her; she seems not to hear me. Great in a crisis, but oblivious to chronic stuff? To me? Not the best fit... |
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IN THE NIGHT OF 13 OCTOBER, 1942: by Peter Birkhäuser; 1942/10/13, a shamanic dream painted Sept. 1975. Sybelle & I climbed the cathedral spire. Bravely she kissed the monstrous guardian, exhaling blue light. My own challenge was to leap across an abyss, under the luminous eye of God... |
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JOYOUS RIDE: by Janis Amatuzio, c. 1953; an ecstatic childhood dream of flight with a guardian angel I was about three. A big, luminous figure said he would be my guardian always. We went horseback riding in the sky... |
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MOM IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT: by a patient of Peter O'Connor; 1985 or before, a therapy-guiding initial dream. My mom's driving me to work. A nearby car has young people in it--I'd rather be with them. My mom seems to be dawdling; I'll be late meeting my colleague! I'm furious... |
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THE OCCUPATION: by a patient of Peter O'Connor; 1985 or before, a therapy-guiding initial dream. Touring an underground maze, I meet a woman I like. But her brother bristles. Then, from a height, I see the ventilation pits of the labyrinth laid out like a map. The Japanese invade! Hide in the jungle. Women in rags butcher centipedes & mice... CAUTION: UNHAPPY MEALS; OVER-JUNGIANISM |
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OTTER MEDICINE: by The-Fringe, a Crow healer, early 1850s; a shamanic dream with physical effects I slept on an island in a scalding hot spring, praying for a dream. I got one--and woke up on the shore... |
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QUOD VITAE: by Rene Descartes; 1619/11/11, three mystical dreams. In one night Descartes had three dreams convincing him he had to change the course of his life... |
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SCARAB: by a patient of Carl Jung's; c.1925? a predictive/synchronistic dream As she told me her dream of receiving jewelry--a golden scarab-- I heard a tapping on the window behind me. I opened it. In flew... |
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SMOKESTACKS: by "D", before 1990, told by Andrew Samuels; a dream on starting therapy "D" wants to renovate her house. A powerplant with twin stacks is ugly, but will power the tools to get the job done. But her new therapist interprets the dream very strangely... CAUTION: NEO-FREUDIAN PSYCHOBABBLE |
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THERAPIST GARBLES "I" & "YOU": by Wayan, 1987/12/28, a dream warning of bad therapy In therapy, I'm wrestling with sex. But workmen invade--hammer & hang pictures. MY pictures! And my therapist keeps confusing me and her, and our sexual orientations! She means well, but... CAUTION: NUDE PORTRAIT |
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THYROID: by Marc Ian Barasch, c. 1985; a set of life-saving diagnostic nightmares In 1985 I was flooded with nightmares about heads and necks. They had an unparalleled intensity... |
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