I Am Plagued By Nightmares...

Question: I am plagued by nightmares, one night after another. This has been happening for several months and I believe it is because of a traumatic experience I had when I was very young. What I don't understand is why it took so many years before I started to have the nightmares. Everything else in my life is okay.

Answer: You may very well be right in your assumption about the origin of your nightmares but I would need to know a great deal more to confirm this one way or the other. If these dreams are recurrent (ie: repeatedly of the same theme and or content) there is some aspect of this possible past experience that is denied, unacknowledged or unresolved. Repressed material from long ago can be reactivated in many ways. A smell, a sound, seeing some scenario on the tele, an experience in the here and now that somehow mirrors the past one etc. If these nightmares continue to plague you, it would be in your best interest to seek help in understanding them from someone who is genuinely skilled in dream work.

Answer provided by David White, Psychotherapist