I’m a psychologist and interpreting dreams is something I’m very good at…when I know a person well. The images in a dream are symbols (Jungian psychology), they symbolize something. What a dream image means for you may be very different from what it means for someone else. There are some “universal” symbols that mean just about the same thing for just about everyone in a particular culture because we have all learned similar things about it (similar understandings). However, I strongly recommend NOT consulting a dream dictionary because what a symbol or image means to one person may be very different from what it means to another. That’s because our personal experiences with the symbol or our associations to the image may be very different from the experiences or associations others have for the same image, symbol, or concept.
For instance, for most people, the symbol of a witch is associated with an evil or mean female, often a maternal figure. However, for a particular dreamer, the symbol of a witch may be very positive. Maybe they won a costume contest when they were dressed up as a witch and it was a very positive emotional experience, perhaps they felt very special, “on top of the world,” recognized, or very pleased with themselves because they beat out their bully or rival in the contest…(so it reflects success, self-confidence, overcoming something). Maybe it was one of the first times their mother really focused on them and helped them with a project (the costume)…so it was a time of feeling emotionally connected with their mother, loved and cared for by her…etc.
The best way to interpret dreams is to write out your entire dream…absolutely everything you remember about it even if a detail doesn’t seem important. Then, begin to “free associate” and write down everything that comes to mind for each symbol, experience, emotion, person, or image in your dream. Write down everything that the image or experience reminds you of. That way, you are interpreting YOUR dream…based on what your dream symbols mean to you. Most of the time, this will help you to understand your dreams…and usually it will be a WOW experience.
I have had “losing teeth” dreams….one falls out…then before I know it, most of my teeth are coming out…or crumbling, etc. I have had this dream many times, so my mind, body, and soul is trying to get something across to me…it’s pushing me to pay attention to something…to deal with something. It’s trying to help me to heal and recover in that area. The dream keeps coming up because something in that area of my psychological or emotional life NEEDS some work.
It’s a dream image that I have not figured out yet…and it’s odd to me to not be able to figure it out. I guess I’ll be having that dream until I do…or until I heal and recover in that area in other ways.
I have made associations to teeth…and all I can come up with is that they are something that’s supposed to be permanent…we are not supposed to lose these. Maybe it represents the major attachment losses in my life…people who were supposed to be permanent, people I loved and depended on, who left. I have become aware in recent months that I had MANY losses of special people in my age 13-16 time period…and life got real bad for me during those years. I was an utter mess emotionally and behaviorally during those years and for years thereafter. I will certainly pay attention to THAT theme if I have the dream again! Maybe I won’t have the dream again since I am dealing with this on my own!
I don’t fully have this association worked out yet, but I’ve also considered that our teeth are things that are “presented to the world” – people see these as we are relating to them…speaking to them. Losing our teeth may represent some vulnerability in this area…The concept of a defense or protective barrier also comes to mind…and if we lose these, we are somehow vulnerable. Our words are a mirror of our soul and our psyche when we are open and express ourselves to others…and losing them may represent a vulnerability, a weakness, or a concern in this area. Maybe we wish we could keep our teeth and protect ourselves from opening our mouth and bearing our soul. Or maybe if we lose our teeth…we are losing our psychological defenses and we are feeling very vulnerable.
See how this is done. Just free associate and think about what teeth mean to you…and then how those associations relate to your life and your issues. When you start to understand your dream and you begin to grow in that area…your dreams will change as you change. Actually, working with patients, I find that our dreams reflect progress we are getting ready to make…the dream comes first…and then manifestations of that progress or change is noticed as we relate to our world. In other words, changes in dream imagery reflects psychological growth that is going on internally…that we are soon to experience in action! They are a signal of the changes the patient is making…and changes we will soon see!
So, maybe instead of losing all our teeth, one or two or several will come out and we’ll be able to get them back into the socket and keep them in place. Knowing dreams, probably at first, the means for getting our teeth back in place will be crazy and won’t make much sense…but nonetheless, in the dream it worked!
~~~ ~~~ ~ The DBT-CBT Workbook ~ ~~~ ~~~ 