ABSTRACT
If you have had a distressing dream, you may inform those close to you that your sleep was disturbed. But if those close ask ‘what was it about?’, you may volunteer the headline ‘it was about x and y’, but when pressed to describe further will likely say, ‘I don’t really want to talk about it?’ and the conversation moves on to other matters. It should then come as no surprise that trauma victims do not wish to detail their horror/s, but it is a normal reaction rather than signifying pathology, in need of treatment. However, if the associate told you that they prefer not to go into a crowded Coffee shop with you and the background to this was a dream of a trauma, then the latter is relevant to today's functioning. There would be a good reason to mutually explore whether the nightmare is truly germane. It is suggested that traumas per se are not an essential focus, it is whether they are regarded as having implications for functioning today that matters. Just as in close relationships patiently listening to the other's story is essential, it is at an even greater premium in therapy post-trauma where suicidal thoughts/plans may be an issue and where retrieval of past traumatic material may be given a particular salience and slant, as in the case example presented. Oftentimes, as in this example, the trauma response is not what would be expected from the history.
