There’s a similar ambivalent response in men’s dreams, but with different motivations. My client “Joe” is a successful writer in his fifties. He has issues about connecting with male authorities. He’s had encounters with dream-Trump several times.
One dream starts close to the surface of waking life. Joe and his wife are bad-mouthing Trump as they do in everyday conversation. They agree he is a bully, a demagogue, a hate-monger.
But then I watch as he climbs up to the back seat in the bed of an orange pick-up and sits down with a tired sigh. Then he smiles and starts waving to the crowd. “Hi,” I say, friendly. I explain about the anti-snore guard mask I’m wearing. “What’s that?” he says, leaning his head forward, apparently not having heard. I repeat the explanation.
Joe and I laughed about the snore guard approach—but he admitted he desperately wanted dream-Trump to like him. It was more than a desire to associate with someone famous. It’s a deep-seated longing for love and approval, something he never felt from his father.
