Regression and Progression
As my night moves on, the dreams (like those of most dreamers) tend to regress. However, those dreams that incorporate my previous homes tend to be quite realistic. The third form of regression does not exist with regard to distortions of the dream image of my former home. While my dreams may incorporate powerful, archetypal images, my home is usually portrayed in accurate (and often quite detailed) manner. These dreams often get bizarre only with regard to the negative, destructive forces that act upon them or upon me as I seek refuge. It is when my memories of past homes in the middle of Freud’s apparatus are associated with negative affect that the third form of regression is engaged.
I do find that the first type of regression is present in my dreams about former homes. Symbolic representations of my previous home are rarely present; however, the role played by my former homes as refuge from a threatening external force or entity is clearly a defensive representation of the numerous ways in which I “hide” from real or imagined threats in my life. The dreams in which I am creative might also represent my use of sublimation as a defense against feelings of helplessness or hopelessness that are often represented in my more negative dreams about getting attacked and finding nowhere to hide—my home is not present.
The third form of regression is clearly present in my dreams incorporating former homes. This slipping back in time is prevalent. However, the interesting observation for me is that the extent of regression to old homes tends to shift over time. The dreams associated with my childhood home in Sycamore are now infrequent, while the dreams of Gualala are becoming more frequent. It seems that I am leaving behind my early homes in order to re-visit the home in which I lived a few years ago. While the archetypes being represented in my dream might have quite primitive origins, they are increasingly being represented in more recent locations.
There seems to be a Progression (rather than regression) in the content of my dreams about homes over time. Why this progression: (1) I am moving on to more “mature” focal conflicts, (2) I am “bored” with the old memories and am looking for new content to “interest” or “entertain” me, or (3) my dream “manufacturing” facility is a bit lazy and picks material that is more immediately available.
The first of these perspectives on locations in my dream is based on an important (and controversial) assumption that focal conflict or at least aspects of focal conflicts can be successfully addressed during our lifetime. As I noted in my first essay on dreams (Bergquist, 2023a), Thomas French and Erika Fromm (French and Fromm, 1964) proposed that a primary psychological function being served by dreams resides in the difficult process of bringing forth and seeking to resolve focal issues that emerged early in our life. While Freud views the function of dreams as being primarily one of guardianship, censorship, indirect-representation and protection, French and Fromm view dreams as serving a much more proactive and problem-solving function. What if, this French and Fromm function is sometimes successful?
A maturational approach to the focal conflict theory suggests that we can achieve success in resolving these issues in our waking life, perhaps in conjunction with work we do in our dreams. Perhaps, I have done a good job of addressing some of my focal issues during my adult years, as represented by the absence of old homes in my dreams. This same outcome might be present in the dreams of other people. This being the case, then the presence or absence in our dreams of homes in our life history might be important to consider when analyzing one’s dreams.
