A Mental Health Moment
By Bernadette Joy Graham, MA, LPC, NCC, CCHt, Licensed Mental Health Therapist
The Truth Contributor
Dreams occur during our sleep and often includes thoughts, emotions and images from our waking life and memories. They can range from intense to confusing, vague, joyful and sometimes frightening and sad. Dreams allow the content from our brain to declutter our thoughts. Many dreams are not easily remembered and can be random. Dreams can seem to have a clear narrative and others seem to make no sense at all.
Some prominent theorist contend functionality of dreaming as a way to process emotions, express emotions, desires or even confrontation of potential dangers.
Dream interpretation is quite complex. Some may refer to dream books to decipher the content and meaning. Dreaming is a normal process of our human nature. Nightmares are often experienced by individuals who have had traumatic events occur in their lives directly or indirectly and can be related to mental and medical issues. If you have nightmares that are reoccurring or disrupting your sleep cycles, seek help from a medical professional.
Take a mental health moment to reflect on your dream cycles. If you find they are not “normal” do not hesitate to seek help. Our minds are the CEOs of our bodies and where you place your thoughts, dreams or nightmares can follow. If you have interest to interpret your dreams one recommendation is the book The Dream Interpretation Dictionary: Symbols, Signs, and Meanings by J.M. DeBord. Also, keep a dream journal and upon waking write down as much of the dream you can remember and look for themes, content, feeling and any personal meaning. Happy dreaming…..
Bernadette Graham is a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor, National Certified Counselor and Certified Grief Recovery Specialist. She is also a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist. Provide feedback or reach out at graham.bernadette@gmail.com For appointment information please call 419.409.4929 (Appointments available on Tuesdays and Fridays only). Office location is 3454 Oak Alley Ct. Suite 300 Toledo, OH 43606 www.bjgrahamcounseling.org Available for team building, employee empowerment in motivation and better understanding mental health in the work place. Accepting new client ages 13 and older.