Hello Steemit members! I have not utilized a writing platform before but I like the idea of processing my ideas in writing and I am hopeful to expand some discussion primarily about sleeping and dream analysis although, I am sure my thoughts will wander to current events and my day to day waking experiences as well.
But first, a little bit about myself. I am a married mother of two tiny dictators and love being their mother more than I had ever imagined. My daughter is four and my son is just turning three so, they are at a magical age with a steep learning curve! I am also a licensed psychologist and I have had the honor of clients sharing their dreams with me and being able to help create awareness between the parallels of the unconscious and the conscious self for nearly four years now. It has been a surreal experience and has made me a firm believer that there are immense forces influencing our everyday thoughts, feelings and behaviors; more so than I believe many people would feel comfortable acknowledging. As my clients have confided their own personal experiences in me (not an easy feat!) I will not betray their trust and relay any of their stories or dreams here but rather, I would like to use this platform to be a space where I can further explore my own dreams.
While I have always dreamed, over the years I have had a few dreams that have stuck with me, remaining vivid. At that time, I was a young child and young adult. I was not concerned with silly dreams and did not imagine they were anything more than a random projection of seemingly unrelated images and events in my life. It was not until four years ago when I met my amazing clinical supervisor that I sat up and started to pay attention to what my unconscious may be trying to communicate to me. My prior professional training was in forensic work, where psychology and law collide, but she was a solid Jungian psychologist; all about the unconscious. For anyone who has provided mental health services to court-mandated forensic clients (inmates, probationers, substance abusers) you may have discovered that the best interventions are those that are straight-forward and practical like CBT and solution focused treatment. Jungian work is anything but straight forward. So when this particular supervisor wanted me to expand my clinical skills and work therapeutically with clients and their dreams I was hesitant to say the least. And what's more, she wanted me to ask my own unconscious for dreams! This seemed like such a strange request at the time I am sure I stood there looking a bit stupid trying not to react at all and not come off as offensive. I believe I had silently nodded my head with no intention of doing any such thing however, as time went on and I began to trust my supervisor more I decided to give it a try. So, one fateful night when I couldn't sleep I decided it was time. I closed my eyes, took a few steadying breaths and said, "okay self, give me a dream." And damn if it didn't give me a memorable dream that first night!
I am curious what I may dream tonight may be in expectation of going public with my private thoughts. I owe a lot of my personal and professional growth to this supervisor. She was a refreshing mentor who opened up a new world for me and through this site, I plan to open that world for all of you. This is my four-year-old daughter's drawing. It seems very abstract and when I asked her what it was she said, "just something I saw in my head."
