THE PARADOX IN THE DREAM AS AN INDICATOR OF THE REORGANIZATION OF THE STYLE OF LIFE

Abstract

As Pagani writes, the therapeutic work in Individual Psychology can be theoretically divided into three significant moments: the first one, oriented to the construction of the therapeutic relationship and, at the same time, to the analysis of the style of life and the definition of the final fictional goal, the second one aimed at the progressive sharing with the patient of the intuitions related to his own life plan and finally the third one, dedicated to the complex work of reorientation of the style of life towards more useful and functional goals for vital tasks. In this context, the dream represents a precious element that brings deep meaning to the creative couple: the dream allows indeed to ideally set the patient along a line that leads him from the initial position – characterized by a complex fictional apparatus and generally declined in many ways on the useless side of living – to a final position in which the will to power and social interest are harmoniously combined. In addition to being a barometer of the therapeutic relationship, the scene that is played in the dream theatre informs us about the current dynamism of the patient and his inclination to modify the dysfunctional aspects of his style of life. It is not uncommon, therefore, that the patient tells dreams in which he represents his style of life in a paradoxal way: in this case, the contents of the dream and the emotional trace that it deposits in the subject will allow us to guess its meaning and direction