Dream Psychology - The Possible Meanings of Our Dreams

One item that Carl Jung felt was a window into our subconscious and that could be used in analytical processes was the dream and dream psychology.

Dreams are a representation in the sensory environments of our mind. They reflect thoughts, feelings and awareness. They reflect our everyday lives in that they are expressing what has been occupying our minds in the day or two prior to the dream. One way a dream can be interpreted is by looking at how it relates to recent events in our life. Dreams occur naturally during a sleep phase known as REM sleep. REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep occurs about every ninety minutes through out the night. These REM periods get progressively longer throughout the night, starting out about 5 – 10 minutes each at the beginning of the night – up until about 30-40 minutes by morning. In total – people dream about 100 minutes per night.

People dream in order to help the brain grow by exciting neurons. This explains why all people and creatures dream, and babies dream up to about 8 hours per day. Researchers also believe that dreams play a role in memory- they strengthen connections between certain areas of the brain and allow other connections that hold less useful information to be released and forgotten. REM sleep also plays a role in releasing certain hormones in the brain and it has been found that reduced REM sleep seems to reduce depression.

Recurring dreams reflect feelings and awareness that have not been successfully resolved in our waking lives. Unresolved feelings often include the sudden loss of a loved one, or an abrupt end to a romantic relationship. We wish the situation could have ended differently, so we tend to replay it in our minds.