Everybody dreams every night - we’ve known that since research in 1963. Do you speak mostly to people who are religious or superstitious in some way? Your website states you’re also an Anglican leader. I often give people advice for sleep hygiene that, for instance, involves people turning their screens off before going to sleep, or not sleeping with their phone under the pillow. We try to create a new ending in their dream. I try to help people translate the story of their dream into what is causing them anxiety and what might be possible in their life.

Often, nightmares leave people feeling helpless, horrified, terrified and unable to act - that may reflect something in their life. If someone’s dream is disturbing, I’m more concerned with the way it finishes. Imagery in dreams is very important and is a bit like an iceberg where you can only see the tip, but there’s a whole lot going on under the water. I ask them what the main feeling in the dream is, what it reminds them of, what imagery is in the dream and where it derives from. They describe their dream to me and I ask them questions about it. Most people come to me because they’ve been having a recurring dream or nightmare that leaves them feeling like there’s something wrong. What is a disturbing dream?ĭisturbing dreams are any kind of dream that leave people feeling anxious, upset or afraid something bad might happen.

Hi Margaret, you speak almost every day to people who have, in your own words, “disturbing dreams”. I further explored a fascinating topic with Margaret and discovered more about myself than I cared to know (or admit). She has also written two books about the subject, including last year’s Healing the Nightmare, Freeing the Soul. Margaret Bowater, who is based in Auckland, has studied dreaming and worked as a dream therapist for more than 30 years. These dreams tended to involve falling, failing or being attacked. “People who are frustrated because their basic psychological needs for autonomy, relatedness and feeling competent are not met are more likely to have a recurring bad dream,” they found. This, of course, was all a dream and I thankfully woke up before having to go on stage.Ī few days ago, researchers at Cardiff University published a new study that explored why people dream. The next night, I went to the theatre only to be told the first performance began in a matter of minutes. I auditioned for a play, got the part and was given a script. A few nights ago I decided to give acting a go.

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