WHO IS THE CULPRIT? -
normal again. I always tell my clients that they are inner emotions, and the clients is trying to suppress these inner emotions, and so the only time they can come out is when the client is asleep and off guard. The best way to cope with them, is to examine the nightmares and try to find out what it is that their subconscious is trying to come to terms with. Perhaps it is trying to think of ways to better defend oneself later? It might be the fear of running into the abuser again. Whatever the nightmare, it needs to be addressed, and worked through. One needs to analyze it and try to find positive solutions to the situation presented in the dream.
You will see, once the client starts to embrace the nightmare as being helpful, and uses it in that way, she will probably stop having them. I suppose, in a way, this is a way of embracing our fears, and finding out they are not as bad as we had thought.
Well, as always in this type of column, issues have just been skirted, and cannot be dealt with in too much detail. However, I hope this gives you something to work with. Just remember, continue to respect your client, and go where she leads. Do not take her to places she is not ready to visit yet. Always keep her in charge of the process, and don't push her into doing things she is not comfortable with yet. Therapy takes time. It is a step-by-step process. I wish you (and your client) all the success.
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