Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Do dreams have meaning?

After studyng the reseach on dream science and particiating in dream interpretation with 3 methods, would you now say that dreams do or do not have meaning? If so, why?

44 comments:

  1. I would say that dreams do have meaning. From this course I've learned about issues that I didn't know I was having like taking on too much and some problems with family matters. I found the meanings that I interpreted from my dreams were almost dead on to my real life so I changed what I could and have been doing much better in most aspects. Some dreams I still haven't found an exact meaning to help me and they come back from time to time so maybe it doesn't have meaning?

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  2. After studying research on dream science and participating in dream interpretation, I strongly believe that dreams do in fact carry meaning. This is a way of our body telling us that something needs to be brought to the awareness of the individual. We are not just dreaming for no reason, it has a purpose. It helps to problem solve waking day events. I learned this first hand after participating in dream interpretation methods. Making the connection from dream images to waking life has made me realize the power dreams carry and that they should not be disregarded. The meaning of dreams is based on the perception of the dreamer and what they believe their dream could mean. Although I didn't gain discovery from every dream, I did gain enough to make me believe that dreams carry important messages and provide meaning for the waking day life of the dreamer.

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  3. I think that after learning the dream methods and all the research we've been exposed to in class, that it would be hard for anyone not to believe their dreams have meaning. I have always thought that my dreams have meaning, but have been unsure how to interpret and understand their meaning. I think they have meaning because I personally have been able to discover meaning from them when completing the dream interpretation methods. Although sometimes it is nothing that I was expecting, it still reveals something that I needed to know.

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  4. I believe that dreams do have meaning. I found that they bring up problems that maybe you do not want to face or problems that you have dealt with too much and have not resolved yet. Your dreams can confront you with stuff that you are failing to realize or simply do not want to realize if you pay attention.

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  5. After studying the research on dream science and participating in 3 dream interpretation methods I would without a doubt say that dreams absolutely have meaning. If looking at past history was not enough, such that they have been an important part of life for many people for as long as we can tell (records of the Mesopotamian's), the literature research I've conducted, illustrated the importance of dreams. Especially health dreams, such as your dream indicating a diagnostic that isn't physically evident, and before the dreamer has been professionally diagnosed, to dream imagery indicating unconscious thoughts or feelings, that after interpreted and actively thought about, can change the dreamers life drastically. As well as mental health, such that dreams can indicate symptoms of anxiety, depression, etc... This is such a beneficial tool, there has been much research developed to try and indicate how someone is feeling in a systematic way, and dreams, when interpreted can tell us so much more information. Finally, the dream methods we have done in class have personally been very insightful. I have been very impressed on how accurate my dream interpretations have been and how my waking day life is completely intertwined in my dreams. The continuity theory has been illustrated over and over again.

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  6. I absolutely 100% believe that dreams have meaning. I have always known this but never really have been able to properly interpret what my body and brain is trying to tell me. From this course and the 3 methods we have learned to enact, I have seen that not all messages from dreams are on the surface. A lot of information is buried deep in the actions and words of the dreams. I am glad I have learned these methods and can now apply them to my life because I am answering a lot more questions about my self and some re-occurring dreams have disappeared. Everyone should pay attention to their dreams because they are always telling you something you just have to try different methods to figure out what that message is.

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  7. I would say that dreams absolutely do have meaning. When interpreting my dreams, I have been able to make clear connections to my waking day life. Dreams must have personal meaning because we are creating them ourselves with our inner most personal thoughts. I think that interpreting your dreams helps you learn more about yourself and when you know more, you are able to make changes to be as happy as you can be.

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  8. I definitely believe that dreams have meaning and I believed they had meaning even before taking this course. It is obvious, to me at least, that dreams are related to what is happening in an individual's waking life. I have always noticed that my dreams are always very relevant to what was happening that day. Lots of research on dreams has shown that dream interpretation and working with one's dreams can lead to significant insight and allow people to make appropriate changes in their life to solve a problem. Sometimes an individual doesn't realize why they are feeling a particular way and dreams push the dreamer in the right direction by bringing the issue to their conscious awareness.

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  9. By being in the class, participating in the seminars and knowing the research that has been done, I think 100% that dreams do in fact have meaning. I feel like dreams will only have meaning if the person is willing to look inside themselves, to learn about themselves on another level. When doing the interpretation methods, I found it quite difficult to find discoveries because at the beginning I wasn't quite sure I wanted to know myself outside of what I think I already knew. However, overlooking or focusing on one dream can cause issues so I think it is best people educate themselves before trying to discover hidden meanings within their dreams. Dreams can cause you to pay attention to things that didn't seem relevant before.

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  10. Personally, I don't know how someone could say they don't have meaning. If someone is not paying attention to their dreams, is not educated in dream research or has confusing dreams that don't make sense at first glance, then i can see why they would say they don't have meaning. However, after taking this course i think it should be clear to us all that they absolutely carrying meaning. Dream interpretation helps you learn about your inner self, which sometimes we loose when we get wrapped up in everyday life. Dream can relate to our relationships, our desires, our everyday life and our personality. They can be direct in nature or indirect. Therefore there are so many different types of dreams that we will experience, and all of them will mean something. Some will be more important than others but over all, They are a glimpse into our inner selves. If paid attention to, dreams can help us problem solve and learn about ourselves. It is important to remember that our dreams are created out of our own unique minds. They are great tools to use in life and if listened to, they can help you live a more meaningful, happy life.

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  11. After studying the research on dream science and having participated in 3 dream interpretation methods I would definitely say that dreams do have meaning. I agree with my peers in that participating in the dream methods I have gained insight in my dreams further strengthening my belief in this science. But I also am a skeptic to the individuals use of the interpretation that comes from these dreams as we may focus on the wrong message or intensify something that really has no meaning to our lives. I know no one can interpret your dreams for you but being in a certain state of mind can intensify certain feelings towards certain images and messages, which could negatively affect someone’s life. I.e. having a negative schema because of life events or having particular events happen to you can skew your interpretation to a more negative one than what your body/mind may be trying to get across to you. But maybe that is the point, to look more closely? Aside from this, throughout this term its been mentioned that dreams should be taken seriously but I feel that dream interpretation should not solely be the only outlet of your decision-making. I believe that people should incorporate the meaning from dream science (or hints) along with other aspects and techniques to solve problems. Overall, I believe dreams do have meaning to our lives and convey important messages but that interpretations of our dreams should not be the sole factor in our decision to change something in our lives.

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  12. I'd say both: dreams DO and simultaneously DO NOT have meaning.
    Just like conscious thought during waking day has greater and lesser meaning (i.e. casual musing versus serious contemplation), I think a moderate stance is that the dreaming mind operates in a similar fashion. There is a danger in ignoring parts of conscious thought with defense mechanisms like denial; I'd say the same applies to ignoring dreaming thought. I would also say that deliberately looking for meaning where there is none in conscious thought (e.g. attribution errors, heuristics, rumination)is equally dangerous if applied to dreams. The beauty I see in applying dream interpretation methods is gaining 'the wisdom to know the difference;' sometimes there are vital messages that must be paid attention to, sometimes there is just fluff. I see both as essential to healthy functioning.

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  13. After studying the research on dream science and participating in dream interpretation with the 3 methods, I truly believe that dreams do have meaning. I have learned so much about myself; I have discovered that I tend to take on too many tasks at one time, and my dreams clearly demonstrate that. The way the body and mind link together through dream messages is amazing. Dreams can help you better understand yourself and important aspects of yourself that you may be missing in waking day life.

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  14. I would definitely, without a doubt say that dreams carry meaning. If they didn't, then why would we have methods of dream interpretation to help us understand our dreams? Also, there has been research conducted on dream imagery in various populations. Dream therapy and interpretation have helped dreamers to reach that "aha that's it" moment where they see the connection between their waking day life and their dream imagery. I have learned a lot about myself through the dream interpretation methods we have been introduced to and I have often been able to reach discovery when using these methods.

    Researchers compare waking day measures to dream content words in dreams to understand if dream imagery is linked to waking day life. For instance, people in poor physical health have been shown to report more injuries and illnesses and people with addictions have reported drugs, desire to abuse drugs, and other addictions in their dream imagery. Dreams have also been shown to predict illness. A woman had a dream that dogs were tearing at her stomach and it was found that this dream predicted the location of cancer in this woman. With these examples, I think it is fair to say that dreams carry meaning.

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  15. I definately believe that after taking this course, and being exposed to different methods on dream interpretation that dreams have meaning. Before I didn't know what I would find out about my dreams by taking this course but after using the methods to interpret my own dreams, the majority of the time it is shocking to see that the methods do allow for great insights into my waking day life. The meanings can be different for all individuals. like what has been said previous, dreams can predict illness, can be about one's current or past relationships with partners, family or friends. There is so much knowledge to gain from finding the meaning behind one's dreams!!

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  16. I agree with others in the class when they say that we can really learn from our dreams, whether its a physical health problem or an emotional realization.

    I thought this before I started taking the class only because I believed small articles I had read here and there saying that they had meaning. But these weren't scientific at all. I think this class has opened my eyes to the psychology of dreaming. I really like learning about what different types of dreams correlate with. I think that after learning 3 types of interpretation, I am better able to find subtle waking day correlations in my own life..

    I do think you have to have an open mind to be able to really look into your dreams. Most of the people I talk to about this class think its a fascinating subject.. but a few people have been somewhat skeptical. But once I begin to explain the methods of dream interpretation that we have learned, they seem interested in trying it out for themselves.

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  17. I think dreams definitely have meaning. The reflect some parts of your waking day life. But sometimes dreams are only dreams and projections so I think people should take their dreams with a grain of salt. If you look into everything so meticulously you might become trapped in searching for something that does not exist.

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  18. After studying the research on dream science and participating in dream interpretation with 3 methods, would you now say that dreams do or do not have meaning? If so, why?

    Absolutely I have believed dreams had meaning since I first started paying attention to and recording my dreams, which would have been when I was in high school, in the 1970s. At that time, however, I think I just saw my dreams as entertaining, and interesting. At that time, I enjoyed my experiences in my dreams, especially if I had flying dreams and if they felt good or inspirational, and I recorded them, but didn't spend much time interpreting.

    Before I took this class, I took other dream workshops and did experience my dreams as informative about relationships in my life. Now, I understand more how important dreaming is in the maintainance of our mental and emotional health, whether we consciously remember them or not. I have more knowledge of the processes of the left and right brains in receiving and organizing stimuli in our lives.

    What has come across strongly in Prof. DeCicco's class is how important dreams are to us understanding ourselves on deeper levels and the ability to interpret our dreams is developed like any other skill -- with attention and effort. I believe that the field of dream research, besides being fascinating, holds mysteries of the unconscious and conscious minds, and what we are being taught are keys that will help us for our entire lives.

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  19. I think most dreams do have meaning because in the dreams workshop, I can find meaning to the dreams that i dreamt especially to my relationships.

    I also solved some homework problems when I was dreaming which made me realized that dreams not only have meaning but one can also solve problems in our dreams

    Although I agree that dreams do carry meanings and help us solve everyday problems but I do not think all dreams carry a meaning because sometimes I would dream that I am in the movie or in the game that I was watching or playing. I think these dreams are just memory recalls because it was very exciting for me.

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  20. After learning about dream research and participating in the methods involved in interpreting your dreams I would say that dreams do have meaning. Your dreams involve your waking day events and reflect your personality. I found that a lot of my dreams can be a bit confusing and strange and this makes complete sense to me because at the point I am in my life right now I have had to make a lot of decisions regarding what I want to do with my life and I am often left puzzled. Also by using the methods of dream interpretation I found I was able to find insight to the dreams I found confusing. After using dream interpretation for these dreams I found they actually weren't as confusing as they first seemed. I was able to find meaning within each dream and found they related to my waking life.

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  21. After what we have studied in this course, I would now say that dreams do have meaning. I think our dreaming mind has a great deal to tell us about our waking life experiences that we are often too busy to pay attention to during waking day. I have found that my dreams have been very reflective of how I am feeling in my life, even if I am trying to not allow those feelings to be acknowledged in waking day. In my own experience, the continuity hypothesis has proven to be very true. I think the process of dream interpretation has forced me to look at some situations that have been bothering me for awhile and the process of interpreting my dreams has also given me the opportunity to see how my feelings have been changing about those same situations as the imagery has changed over the course of this class. In my experience, dreams certainly do have meaning for the dreamer.

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  22. After doing various dream interpretation methods I definitely do believe that dream have meaning. I found the continuity hypothesis to be relevant in accordance to my dreams. I never realized that my dreams contained so much information that I store in the back of my mind. After interpreting my dreams I was able to retrieve true inner meaning to how I felt about situations in my life that I would not have been able to realize in my waking life. I cant say that every dream has a meaning but I can say that in most cases dreams do have meaning.

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  23. I think that dreams definitely have meaning and this is obvious from the abundance of dream literature and research that we have been exposed to in this class alone. Personally, through using the dream interpretation methods, I have been able to pinpoint the underlying causes of many of my stresses and anxieties through the content of my dreams. Even the dreams that on the surface appear to be meaningless seem to make sense when I interpret them through the different methods, and the discoveries have led to amazing changes in my overall demeanour.

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  24. Even before this class I thought that dreams had meaning, but I was still unsure of a couple of things. This class and what was presented helped to clarify what I wasn't sure about. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this class. The research seems solid to support the idea that dreams have meaning behind them. Furthermore, I thought that the methods helped to reveal the meaning behind my dreams. Having used them, I was able to find meanings behind them, and things that I would not have considered before in my dreams.

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  25. I would say that for me dreams do have meaning. Before taking this class I never really even thought about my dreams nor what they could possibly tell me. After completing the three interpretations in class I have now learned that dreams can help me with my everyday waking life situations. I have also learned that the phrase "sleep on it" is actually true. You do your best problem solving while you are sleeping. Dreams that made absolutely no sense to me upon waking now have given me insight into my waking day life. I also never really remembered my dreams upon wakening and keeping a dream journal allows me to remember my dreams and benefit from them. Before this class I did not know that there were methods to interpreting dreams. Everyone I talk to has become interested in this class and a few have asked to borrow the book to interpret their own dreams. From taking this class I definetly think that dreams have meaning.

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  26. After participating in 3 different dream interpretation methods, and finding discovery through each one, I believe that all dreams have meaning and can all be related to one's waking day life.

    When it comes to dream interpretation, taking the actual content of your dreams may cloud your ability to discover their meaning, but keeping an abstract and open mind to what the content of your dreams may symbolize will help one to discover dream meaning more easily. All people who dream should be able to find meaning in their dreams.

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  27. Dreams deffinalty have meaning. Using the three different methods learned in class, we have developed tools we can use to assess our dreams on a multitude of levels. We can problem solve waking day situations and adress emotions using dream analysis. Dreams have also be proven relevant for identifying health concerns, benficial theraputic purposes, and for self discovery. All in all, dreams are important for every aspect of our waking life.

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  28. "Dreams deffinalty have meaning. Using the three different methods learned in class, we have developed tools we can use to assess our dreams on a multitude of levels. We can problem solve waking day situations and adress emotions using dream analysis. Dreams have also be proven relevant for identifying health concerns, benficial theraputic purposes, and for self discovery. All in all, dreams are important for every aspect of our waking life."

    Grace Williamson - previous post was made by me as well! But I forgot to post my name!

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  29. I would say that dreams absolutely have meaning. I think that it's important to be aware of there meaning but also be cautious not to get too overwhelmed by them. I’ve learned that some dreams are going to stand out to me more than others so I’ve learned to trust my instincts. Dreams have helped me waking day life issues and have allowed to me acknowledge some of the hidden issues I’m dealing with. I think that dream therapy should be more available to people because of the impact it can have on a person’s life.

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  30. Studying research on dream science and participating in dream interpretation, I do believe that dreams can carry meaning. But as already mentioned consciously looking for meaning behind every dream is not only dangerous but can also lead to confirmation bias. However, this could be avoided if one were to employ any of the 3 methods of dream interpretation properly, which have been clinically proven to be effective. Clinical research has given evidence that dreams do ultimately have meaning in the form of metaphors and analogies pertaining to people’s daily conscious lives. As shown from EEG studies, the brain is very active when we were asleep which allows us to consolidate everything we learned during the day as well as problem solve issues plaguing us. History of dreams further gives proof its importance and usage in the modern world as it has been adhered to by many great civilizations of the past and contemplated for by early philosophers. It is as old (if not older) than any of the sciences.

    Similar research shows dreams to be able to predict illness. And as one handsome devil stated in the last post: Since the mind and body are so well intertwined and function simultaneously to avoid situations endangering our health in the external world, it’s not surprising that dreams (the unconscious part) helps us to see our internal world so that we may recognize our selves and problems that plague us from within; whether they may be social or biological.

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  31. Dreams can carry much meaning, but it is up to individuals to be open and willing to experience the meaning behind them. A dream could be very meaningful, but if an individual does not believe it can be, then the meaning of the dream is meaningless. It can be hard for individuals to grasp meaning of dreams, and at times dreams can be related to several waking day events. Dreams absolutely connect to waking life and are created by the individual, so it is logical that the dreams an individual has, has some kind of meaning to them. Overall it appears the meaning of dreams, is the meaning the individual attributes to them.

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  32. I definitely think that dreams have meaning. I have always been interested in interpreting my dreams. I have used dream dictionaries and symbolic superstitions told to me by my family to analyze (not interpret) my dreams. For example fish or fruit are associated with pregnancy, or snakes are associated with enemies.

    Now, after taking this course I know that dreams are not necessarily universal, but rather that they are unique to each individual and that they are related to waking day situations. Because of this knowledge I am now able to interpret (not analyze) my dreams, find meaning, and confront waking day and hidden issues.

    By using the 3 dream interpretation methods, I have been able to find deeper meaning to my life and I am able to solve or find solutions for personal issues.

    I think that Dream Interpretation should be more readily available as a form of psychotherapy to treat all forms of disorders.

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  33. I would definitely say that dreams have meaning. Before taking this class I just thought dreams were about what has happened in your life and that you were just “remembering” things from your memory and having weird images about them. After taking this class and participating in finding insight in my dreams, I have discovered that dreams really do have meaning. Most of my dreams I cannot take at face value, I have to actually do an interpretation on them and figure out what they mean for me in waking life. I found it very neat through the duration of this course the amount of insight that I have actually received. There will still be a lot of skeptics that do not believe that dreams have meaning, but it is all about the perception of life events that the dreamer has that will determine if they allow themselves to have insight or not.

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  34. Yes I defiantly think that dreams have meaning. I have always thought that they were important, I just didn't know how or why. By coming into this dreams and dreaming class I have learnt that dreams are important and are linked to our waking day life in so many ways. It gives us so much insight to what we are feeling and really thinking. I think that every method that I have learned, has been useful to me in one way or another and I will defiantly continue to interpret my dreams.

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  35. I would say that dreams definitely have meaning, they are based on the things we think about and do in daily life. Our dreams usually have a focus on what factors in our life may be causing us stress or anxiety, or can piece certain aspects of our day or life together to help us problem solve. I definitely think our dreams tend to reveal more meaning after using some form of dream interpretation, but even without the interpretation our dreams still have meaning.

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  36. I believe dreams definitely have meaning and I have always believed this. Dreams are so full of symbolic meaning, which has been useful for guiding me to insights in many of my own dreams. I feel like dreams bring awareness of underlying issues that most people don’t know about themselves or try to suppress.. Maybe not all dream interpretation methods lead to personal discovery but I believe if a person finds a suitable method for them then they too are capable of having an “AHH” moment. Some people feel that people who believe their dreams have meaning are just going out of their way to make the dream have meaning, even if this is the case it does not disadvantage you in any way for trying to gain insight.

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  37. I would say that dreams do have meaning. Sometimes the meaning is literal without needing to use any dream interprestion methods, and sometimes rather complex needing at least one, if not more dream interpretation methods to get insight. Sometimes, the dreams can offer one or more insight at the same time, with the same dream interpretation method.

    They have meaning because the brain needs a trigger to come up with the imagery for the dream.

    - Melissa Van Grootel

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  38. After studying the research on dream science, and participating in dream interpretation with 3 different methods, I most certainly believe that dreams have meaning.

    Personally, I have always thought that dreams were interesting, and important, I just didn't know why. After participating in this course, I have come to learn that dreams are very much linked to our waking day lives. Our dreams reveal what we are really thinking, and feeling. Thus, they can help us gain insight into our waking day lives, help us solve problems, and also sometime let us know when there might be a health issue in our waking day lives that we should maybe be addressing.

    Therefore, I feel that dreams are very important, and it is important to pay attention to your dreams if you wish to gain any insight into your waking day life.

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  39. After studying dream interpretation and having the chance to study and use all three of these methods, I would without a doubt say that all dreams have meaning. The reason I choose to believe this is because while using these methods, I have gained further knowledge and understanding on my dreams and have been able to puzzle my dreams together to gain insight. These methods have helped me a lot to fully understand the meaning behind my dreams and have also helped me believe that there is such a thing as dream interpretation.

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  40. After using the dream interpretation methods and hearing about the research on dream science, I do agree that dreams have meaning to the dreamer at one level or another. Our minds are always working, whether through our waking life experiences, through unconscious thought, while we are sleeping and consolidating information, or when we are re-remembering information. Dreams reflect this work in our minds, and give us an idea of the kind of information our consciousness is working with. When we dream then, our dreams do have meaning, since the content of our dreams are a reflection in some way of the experiences of our psyche. This is information we can then use to understand ourselves, and to better our lives.

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  41. I would definitely say that dreams hold meaning after this class. The more comfortable I become with each type of analysis, the easier I find it to see the patterns visible in my dreams that connect them around basic themes present in my waking day life. This definitely makes dreams very important to me. Helping family members find meaning to their dreams as well using the STM has also shown just how useful dreams can be to making sense of waking day life.

    - Carey-Ann Bette

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  42. In my opinion I do believe that dreams have meaning. I have always felt this way, but taking the dreams and dreaming course has really opened my eyes to all the possible meanings of dreams. Previously I had always felt like the meanings of dreams for the most part were obvious. For example if a certain event occurred in my life earlier that week, I could relate my dreams to that or to other things going on in my life. After using the different methods to interpret my dreams, I have seen that dreams have much deeper meanings. The meanings may not always be what they seem, and may not be as obvious but they are there somewhere. The story telling method and projection method were two of my favourite methods and where I found the most interesting meanings.

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  43. I would definitely say that my dreams have meaning. I have always been curious about the meaning of my dreams but never knew how to interpret some of the imagery that came up. I have learned in this class that our minds are constantly going, even when we're asleep. I have learned that dreams can help us gain insight about our lives, and make changes accordingly. I have realized that my dreams tell me very important messages. Since I have been introduced to The Storytelling Method, the 2A method, and the Projective Method I have been gaining SO MUCH insight about my dreams and, as a result, I have been making some important changes in my life.

    The Storytelling Method has helped me become comfortable with analyzing my dreams and has given me simple, and easy to understand interpretations. The 2A method has helped me tap into the emotional content of my dreams. I have used this method for many of my dreams and it has been helpful every time, since many of my dreams contain very emotional content. The projective method was very helpful as well. By obtaining other people's points of view, I have come to understand why so many of my dreams don't make sense. This method was also very effective.

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  44. After this class I have become more aware of my dreams and I would say they do have meaning. However, I have had a difficult time finding meaning in my dreams using the methods. We have learned that these methods find discovery 80% of the time, maybe i am one of the unlucky 20%

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