People rarely come to a psychologist with a clear request. Often with a symptom that worries them. When collecting anamnesis, we come across something that was not considered a symptom. I'll tell you about this further. The symptom is repressed energy. This is pain, anger, horror - what went into the formation of a symptom. One of the first tasks of therapy is to reveal to a person what he hides from himself behind a symptom. When I ask a person who comes to therapy about his past, learning his life story, I ask all sorts of different questions. For example: do you have nightmares? For me this is not idle interest, but information that probably confirms some kind of trauma. Sometimes the client says: “Yes! Of course, they do. And he wonders: “What happens differently for others?” Wasn’t nightmare considered a symptom?... I inform you that not everyone has nightmares. At the same time, I explain: “There are dreams that are difficult (with different feelings), nightmarish they are distinguished by the experience of horror and the inability to resolve it.” Often in the content of a dream: I can’t get out, run away, save myself from something intolerable: natural, social, mystical. Nightmares for a trauma therapist are an early symptom of PTSD. Although they can occur even after several years after the injury. The content of the dream may indicate the theme of traumatization (not always directly). From the point of view of subpersonality therapy, it is believed that dreams filled with horror are attempts to break out of the repressed, blocked experience of horror of some part. All negative, non-integrated experiences for a person: emotions, thoughts, bodily sensations, strive for completion. Therefore, nightmares are sent as a way to shake a person up: pay attention, help, do something! Probably, a person who knows what nightmares are paid attention to their frequency in connection with the occurrence of stressful situations or some kind of tension. Maybe you discovered, in addition to terrible dreams, other symptoms: intolerance to bright light or loud sounds, hypervigilance, the appearance of intrusive images or memories, unexpected sudden mood swings (frequently repeated outbreaks of uncontrollable irritation, rage, indignation or bouts of tears). Then it is better not to hesitate and contact for help. Because then you may encounter later symptoms of PTSD: panic attacks, phobias, a sharp decrease in energy and psychosomatics. With respect to you, Elena Kislova.