Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 564 Imagery in Dreams

Nan Zhuren glanced at the wall clock.

Although the hypnosis process was simplified, half an hour had still passed.

Including the initial basic communication time, it has now exceeded the standard consultation time.

As usual, Nan Zhuren sent a message to Mo Kai, instructing his assistant not to knock and interrupt, as he wanted to extend the consultation period appropriately.

However, even if Nan Zhuren slightly increased the consultation time today, there was still not enough time left to have a very in-depth discussion of the visitor's situation.

From Nan Zhuren's perspective, the visitors in front of him still need in-depth discussion.

Although the client eventually withdrew from the hypnotic state on his own, preventing Nan Zhuren from collecting more information, it was still enough for Nan Zhuren to verify some of his conjectures.

However, the first consultation doesn't require in-depth discussion, and the current consultation relationship doesn't allow Nan Zhuren to delve too deeply.

Interpreting a visitor's dream primarily involves focusing on the surface-level intentions, with one or two deeper points interspersed within.

Nan Zhuren answered the visitor's questions very cautiously, first saying, "As we said before, the interpretation of personalized dreams must be combined with the individual's personality traits and recent life experiences."

Nan Zhuren made a shrugging gesture: "This is our first consultation today, so I haven't learned much about you. Although we obtained a lot of dream information this time, our interpretation method may still be rather textbook-like."

"I will give you some of the possibilities I have seen, and hopefully they will be helpful."

The visitor picked up his water glass, took a sip, and nodded slightly in agreement with Nan Zhuren's statement.

Compared to when she first entered the consultation room, her entire aura had undergone a complete transformation.

Nan Zhuren organized his thoughts. Following the usual "praise before criticism" approach in counseling, he began by discussing the relatively neutral parts of the client's dream.

“At first, you said you were in the hospital,” Nan Zhuren said.

The visitor nodded.

"But according to your description, the place you are in is not the hospital you were in during the day, or even any hospital you have ever been to before."

Nan Zhuren analyzed, "We can assume for now that your memory isn't deep enough. This 'hospital' might be a place you've been to before, but you can't recall it subjectively, so it's appearing in your subconscious dream now. This means that something very important might have happened in this hospital, so much so that you can't forget it."

"But... there is another possibility."

Nan Zhuren looked at the visitor and said, "This 'hospital' is actually a fabricated scenario you've created, but your perception has given it the environmental context of a 'hospital.' In our daily understanding, hospitals play a role in 'intervention' and 'healing.'"

"This means that your subconscious believes you need help."

"In particular, your perception that you are in a hospital's 'emergency room' further underscores the urgency of your need for help."

The visitor pursed his lips, a somewhat awkward smile appearing at the right corner of his mouth, which vanished in an instant.

"So, I still need help?"

Her attitude didn't seem to agree, as if she had anticipated Nan Zhuren's statement.

It seems that when all psychological counselors analyze something, they eventually come to this conclusion.

The visitors were also medical professionals who knew that when doctors examined patients, they rarely made a definitive judgment that the patient had no problems at all.

But can you find someone who has no physical problems whatsoever?
Obviously that's not possible.

Therefore, this kind of judgment is not very meaningful.

Nan Zhuren chuckled lightly: "We're only analyzing the dream right now, I'll continue—"

"Then you said that you were in a corridor. The 'corridor' is also a classic psychological image, which has a very obvious sense of loneliness and confusion. Especially since you are in the corridor at night when the lights are dim, it will reflect your inner unease even more."

The visitor remained silent, only feeling that Nan Zhuren was now mostly spouting formulaic platitudes.

This approach of analyzing people in terms of loneliness and fear is very similar to some commercialized and entertainment-oriented psychological analyses or tests.

Nan Zhuren continued, "Then, you stopped at the restroom, where dark water was flowing."

"The restroom is a private place for disposing of bodily waste and cleaning, and it usually symbolizes those hidden, unspeakable emotions and traumas."

"The water seeping out symbolizes an uncontrollable, pervasive negative emotion, something that has been suppressed to the extreme and is now bursting forth. This is what causes the 'broken pipe' and the 'leak'."

“Of course, I have another guess—” Nan Zhuren suddenly changed the subject.

He mentioned it casually: "That is, this 'water' is not just an image, but may also be a projection of reality. Your negative emotions may be directly related to water in reality."

……

This time, the visitor offered no feedback.

He simply picked up his water glass and took a few more sips, without glancing in Nan Zhuren's direction.

"Then, being 'surrounded' by water and 'unable to control stepping into the water' further highlighted a sense of loss of control."

Nan Zhuren said: "It's a reality that you think you can control, solve, and escape from, but in reality you will still be swallowed up by negative experiences and negative emotions."

"At least when you're dreaming, your negative emotional experience is indeed at an extreme."

As she said this, Nan Zhuren recalled the interviewee's reaction when recounting the dream.

The visitor remained silent, only continuing to drink water.

"This also explains the appearance of your later dreams—"

"A magnificent sky, an unparalleled view."

At this point, Nan Zhuren changed the subject.

“Your dream can be divided into two parts, and here is a huge turning point, a clear dividing line.”

Nan Zhuren observed the visitor's actions: "If your previous dream construction was influenced by certain elements of reality, here, it can be said that it is entirely your subjective perception at work."

The visitor was still holding a water glass and was pouring it out in a very large motion.

But she soon realized that she had finished the glass of water and there was nothing left in it.

"Would you like another glass?" Nan Zhuren asked. The visitor gently shook his head, placed the glass on the coffee table, and asked Nan Zhuren, "Then why do you think my dream suddenly changed so drastically?"

Nan Zhuren used a technical term: "Because of dissociation."

The visitor blinked: "Dissociation?"

Nan Zhuren said, "When people suffer harm in their daily lives that exceeds their ability to bear, they will enter a state of [defense] and [escape].

"These two states can be mild or severe. Mild defensiveness or avoidance is probably subconscious rebuttal, subconscious denial, or ignoring it."

"But if it gets serious, it can lead to certain pathological manifestations. For example, regression means that an adult exhibits childlike behavioral patterns, resulting in a kind of regression."

As he said this, Nan Zhuren glanced at the visitor.

"The 'dissociation' in your dream refers to the interruption or separation of the normal connection between a person's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of self-awareness."

Nan Zhuren made a severing gesture: "You can think of it as a kind of circuit breaker. When the current of emotions is too strong and about to burn a person up, the brain will trip the circuit breaker."

“There are many forms of dissociation in reality: when a person is under a certain amount of pressure, he may suddenly feel that the world around him has become strange and unfamiliar, as if he is looking through a layer of glass; in more exaggerated cases, he may have a feeling similar to ‘out-of-body experience,’ as if he is observing himself from the outside of his body.”

Nan Zhuren then looked at the visitor: "And the 'dissociation' in your dream created an abstract, sensory-distorted, yet beautiful fairytale illusion."

At this point, Nan Zhuren tried to calm things down a bit.

"Of course, dissociation is not entirely a bad thing. This state of detachment not only prevents one from being harmed by negative emotions, but also gives one the ability to think and try to find a way out of difficulties."

"The extreme beauty you described in the latter part, the aurora and the clouds, can actually be seen as an extreme longing. Faced with a desired goal that cannot be tangibly constructed, this method is used to give it a rough image."

At this point, Nan Zhuren's wording unconsciously shifted.

Compared to his initial approach of simply analyzing "imagery" verbatim, Nan Zhuren has now begun to use many highly specific descriptions.

The visitor did not respond.

She lowered her head slightly, no longer meeting Nan Zhuren's gaze.

"As for your final state of 'falling and floating,' it is a trace of reality that remains from the latter half of this fantastical dream. There are probably three possibilities for interpretation."

Nan Zhuren looked at the visitor and said, "One interpretation is the most direct one—a sense of loss of control."

It's very brief. And there's no need for further explanation of this term.

"The second type is the embodiment of a certain inner thought. It is an intense desire for something, but also a fear of the disillusionment that will result after obtaining it, leading to fear and hesitation."

Nan Zhuren observed the visitor's behavior.

"As for the third type, it is a reflection of reality. It may be that you tried to obtain something in reality but failed in the end; you hope to make up for it in the dream, but deep down you know that it is impossible. That's why you have this state of 'wanting to fall but floating, wanting to float but falling' to prevent you from making up for it in the dream."

In fact, Nan Zhuren could basically determine which of these three possibilities the visitor belonged to.

However, if the statement is too precise at this point, it will give the visitor too much of a sense of intrusion.

For specific effects, refer to those who have had their defenses breached by Nan Zhuren's [micro-expression analysis].

Therefore, it's better to mix this conclusion with the other two, making it "one of the three possibilities." This demonstrates Nan Zhuren's professionalism and resonates with the visitor's feelings, while also giving the visitor some room for maneuver and preserving a sense of security.

The visitor remained silent for a moment, and for the rest of the visit, she barely responded to Nan Zhuren.

After a long pause, she suddenly took a deep breath: "Teacher, you forgot to analyze something."

Nan Zhuren asked, "What is it?"

I don't know if the visitor's question was driven by genuine curiosity or a defensive rebuttal or a way to change the subject.

“A train,” the visitor laughed. “Why did a train appear at the end?”

Nan Zhuren laughed along, "This is probably the image with the most information. So I'd like to save it for last."

Nan Zhuren gestured: "Let's talk about the role of the 'train' as a component of your dream. In the latter half of your dream, which is full of fantasy, a realistic image suddenly appears. First of all, it is definitely something that comes from the outside, is full of power, and is something you desire."

At this point, Nan Zhuren pretended to recall: "And the 'train' itself is also a very classic dream image, and its specific meanings can be many."

"At its most superficial level, it symbolizes 'sex.' It possesses the qualities of length, rhythm, and power; at the same time, it often exhibits the quality of 'shuttle' during movement."

Nan Zhuren's expression was serious, as if he were giving a lecture; the visitor's expression was also calm, as if he was truly receiving knowledge.

As a nurse, she has a high capacity for this kind of knowledge.

"Secondly, trains also represent a kind of 'stability'. Trains operate strictly according to timetables and tracks, which may symbolize a certain regularity, routine, or even a rigid life."

"Furthermore, trains are often associated with 'life's direction,' a kind of 'fate.' Catching a train means seizing an opportunity; missing a train means losing something important."

"And finally, trains also contain elements of 'connection' and 'separation'."

This time, Nan Zhuren spoke much more.

It's not just about hiding the visitor's true situation among many possibilities, but also because the visitor's true situation may not be just one thing.

The train is a complex image.

The visitor did not speak.

Nan Zhuren didn't say anything either, because today's consultation could be considered over.

Nan Zhuren watched her think quietly, and after half a minute, he said, "That's roughly the analysis of your dream."

"If there are no further questions, we can call it a day."

The visitor remained silent.

Nan Zhuren smiled. Just as he was about to get up and let Mo Kai come in to finish things up.

The visitor finally looked up.

She asked, "Teacher, are you usually free at this time?"

(End of this chapter)