Correlation of Dreams in Clinical Psychology
...ne our happiness” (Kramer). Also, some dream scientists believe that dreams are the sleeping continuation of thought process “during the day or a reprogramming of the central nervous system for the next days [thought]” (Pagel). “People, things or events from the previous day that end up in a dream are there for a reason. They tend to touch off ideas, emotions and memories of the unconscious” (Suler). While thinking about the dream, it starts to unfold and the answer slowly surfaces. If the time comes and it seems as though you have been there or done that before, then it is possible you’re feeling déjà vu in connection to a dream. Furthermore, Rapid Eye Movement (REM) plays an important role in understanding clinical psychology. REM is the period of sleep when dreams occur, in which the brain waves become smaller and faster (Gale 1). If REM is monitored and analyzed for correct, specified amounts, “patients can result in an improvement in their depression” (Dieckmann 109). The lack of REM sleep generates mental and emotional instabilities (Dieckmann 109). REM sleep is also required for satisfactory upkeep, “of the personality and new learning,” but is not required for life experiences (Rossi 143). For many reasons, obviously, the study of REM reveals the link between dreams and our emotional state. When REM sleep patterns are compared to waking-state brain activity, they resemble “that seen in an awake individual” (Goodale). REM represents “the things we have experienced and learned during the day which are organized and integrated with existing memories” (Goodale). The REM sleep patterns do actually correspond to our waking thoughts. Dreaming, in fact, has a direct connection with the real world. Similar experiences have been reported between “waking experiences and their apparent incorporation into REM dreams” (Stickgold et al). In the future, with the continuation of REM sleep patterns and dream studies, there may be a way to understand our emotional state, whether awake or a sleep. Equally important to the role of dreams in clinical psychology is unlocking one’s own fears, frustrations and personal desires. Are dreams really something we are frightened of, mad or aggravated at, or a fulfillment of unexpressed wishes? There are many theories in understanding this connection. Sigmund Freud, a theorist who studied dreams said they are “the royal road to the unconscious” (Gale). According to Freud, “dreams are thought to provide a fantasy experience through which impulses repressed in waking life are asserted” (qtd. in Fisher 30). Should we really pay attention to our dreams and their meanings? If we do, then the real answer may unravel right before our eyes. Although there is many debates over dreams, their true origins remain mysterious. The cause of dreams maybe an “indirect expression of a repressed wish or fear and a reproduction of some former vivid experience” (Drake 114). The nature of our dreams are disguised “in order that certain ideas can come to consciousness” (116). Freud portrayed the dream as a vehicle for the expression of the unconscious wishes (Fisher 1). Evidence has come to light that dreams “may serve not only to vent impulses, but also to work out problems, express conscious attitudes and to cope with anxiety” (Fisher 2). Can our dreams be speaking unconsciously, out loud, in an attempt to reveal themselves and their underlying meanings? Furthermore, “dreams could unmask underlying afflictions and lead to an effective treatment of mental illness” (Dorsey 2A). If dreams are an entrance to “repressed desires, irrational behaviors and unexamined traumas [how can they be controlled]” (2A)? If a patient is monitored and he or she has their dreams controlled, could there actually be a benefit in conjunction with our emotional state? Psychotherapies have evolved into what they are today from Freud’s analytic principles of dreams (2A). In accordance with behavior, “psychologists have designed experiments that probe the unconscious mental activity of the mind—memory, dreams and emotions” (2A). Dreams obviously play important roles in clinical psychology in many ways. In studying, treating and preventing a patients unwarranted behavior in clinical psychology, we must first analyze the underlying problems. Can dreams really affect our emotional state? If so, can it be controlled? Dreams thrust us into a dimension where anything can happen. The dream may be relevant to an experience the dreamer has d...