Dr. Joshua Black will never forget the first dream he had about his father shortly after he passed. In it, his dad stood on the other side of the room, looking healthy and peaceful. Dr. Black called out to his father, “I love you. I’m going to miss you.”
Dr. Black isn’t alone in his experience. His study published in the journal Dreaming found that 86 percent of participants dreamed of loved ones after they’d recently passed.
For Dr. Black, this first dream was followed by a series of vivid dreams of his father. They affected him so deeply that they inspired him to pursue a Ph.D. in such dreams, which he calls grief dreams. He’s gone on to become one of the foremost experts in this emerging field.
We sat down with him to learn more about the psychology behind these powerful dreams and what the experiences mean for the dreamer.
What are the characteristics of a grief dream?
A grief dream is any kind of dream you’ve had after the loss of a loved one. It can be a symbolic dream reflecting your emotions surrounding the loss. For example, you’re feeling overwhelmed by grief, so you dream something collapses on you, reflecting that crushing feeling. Or, it can be a dream in which the deceased is mentioned, perhaps by an angel or a hospital worker. Or you can dream that the deceased is present—this type of dream interests people the most, and it’s where I’ve focused a lot of my academic research.
What forms do the grief dreams in which the deceased are present commonly take?
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