Eros in the toilet: An inquiry into the nature of toilet dreams in clinical practice

Abstract

The practicing psychotherapist is routinely presented with dreams depicting scenes of toileting and elimination of body wastes. These dreams present a variety of situations and emotion. They are theorized as related to the separation phase of the client's early life as it is being reenacted in the therapy container. They also may indicate that the client is moving toward a connection with the underworld. The taboo imposed on anal products and their discussion is far-reaching and repressive. It can prevent a fuller understanding of the positive contribution to the individuation process in the client. Reporting a toilet dream in therapy establishes a ‘waste disposal’ couple, similar to the earlier ‘feeding couple.’ The outcome of the dream drama shows the way in which natural development can be reinstated. The urgency of ‘having to go’ in the toilet dream suggests the urgency of the development task. The role of the therapist in relating to toilet dreams is discussed. Jung's concept of individuation is related to the ‘anal stage’. Sanford (1978) reported the dream of a woman having to clean a room covered with feces as an individuation task. Jung's vision of the turd dropped from heaven led to a maturation of his vision and a new approach to psychoanalysis. Toilet dreams occur when the psychotherapy client is in the process of separation from the mother or therapist. Features of the dream are diagnostic as to how development is proceeding well or has been derailed. Toilet dreams introduce the ‘shadow’, Jung's term for the part of the personality hidden under the outer persona, and the concept of the ‘underworld’ as described by James Hillman. Examples from the author's cases and from clinical literature provide a deeper understanding of the toilet dream phenomenon.