Are Dreams Important
As Shakespeare famously said “to sleep perchance to dream”, since time began there has been a fascination with dreaming. In days gone by, there was a belief that dreaming had some sort of supernatural property to it. Dreaming is something that we all do, experts say up to 20 times per night. Most people are able to remember only one or two dreams in any given night.
Since Freud started to look at the importance of dreaming, clients approach psychotherapists to look for guidance in the interpretation of dreams. However, are dreams important with regards to psychological health? Some experts and researchers believe that dreams are a way for us to cope with the stresses and strains of the waking world. People can use their dreams to work through conflicts as well as using the state as a means of problem solving. Dreams can occur in both REM and non REM sleep however, there is greater brain activities when in REM sleep.
Sometimes clients are disturbed by their dreams or want to seek meaning for their dreams. Whilst some psychotherapists spend a great deal of time in interpreting dreams, I generally say that whilst a person’s dreams are important, it is essential that he/she does not read too much into them.
