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Your Child’s Dreams

Dr. Pam Spurr
Connections Book Publishing (2009)
ISBN 9781859062883
Reviewed by Enid Grabiner for RebeccasReads (09/10)


In the effort to become better parents we often are hyper-alert about our children’s personal and educational development.  We try to observe and listen, looking for both positive and negative cues in which to respond.  We want to nurture their creativity and allay their fears, but first we must be able to identify them.  Dr. Pam Spurr addresses the issue of children’s dreams as a vehicle to understanding their emotional well-being.  She offers examples of common dreams, explains possible meaning of objects, people and settings in these dream sequences, poses questions to ask our children and presents exercises to stimulate further communication about them.

Many of the examples are done as case studies in which a child’s dream is presented, followed by a contextual analysis, the child’s emotion response and ways in which an adult can respond to them through communication and dreamercises. 

It is obvious that many of these scenarios are analyzed and interpreted by the author-psychologist who is adept at identifying family issues and their effects upon the children. I think that the use of the professional is often necessary in dealing with many of the situations that impact the troubled family unit.  Many of the families presented appear to have sought out assistance in recognizing problem and have a therapeutic agenda.

I think that trying to recognize and classify dream symbolism by an untrained parent can be dangerous.  While there are common associations that a parent can relate to when responding to a child’s dream, he must do so with caution so as not to misinterpret or give more importance to a symbol than it demands.  This however, is an interesting book that can make a parent aware of possible meaning of his child’s dream in dealing with family, school and friendships.  Approaching techniques presented could be useful if the parent can employ them judiciously and naturally in conversation.  It really is the encouraged stimulation of communication that will ultimately strength trust in the relationship.