PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT OF THERAPY SESSION, SATURDAY, 11 OCTOBER 2025, IN THE OFFICE OF DR. KEVIN PEPPER, PH.D.  PARTICIPANTS: DR. KEVIN PEPPER AND MR. JAYSON GALLAWAY, FILE NUMBER 788-2945

KEVIN PEPPER: So what I hear you saying is that you want to go back to not dreaming.
JAYSON GALLAWAY: Goddamn right.
KEVIN: I don’t know of a way to do that.
JAYSON: Well, you better figure it out, because it’s your fault I started dreaming again.
KEVIN: How the hell is it my fault?
JAYSON: Because I didn’t dream for about a decade, then I started seeing you, and I started dreaming again.
KEVIN: Purely coincidence.  You were having a nervous breakdown, and while that was happening, your mind sort of took your capability to dream offline, basically.  As you recovered, you started dreaming again.  This is actually a really good sign.
JAYSON: It’s a pain in the ass.  I hate it.
KEVIN: Why?  Are you having nightmares?
JAYSON: Not at all.  At least that would be interesting.  At least I think it would.  I don’t think I’ve ever had an actual nightmare.
KEVIN: You reported that once your breakdown started, you had the same dream every night for…
JAYSON: A year and a half.
KEVIN: The same dream?  Remarkable.  And that wasn’t a nightmare?
JAYSON: Nope.  Exactly the opposite.  In that dream, everything was right again.  She was still alive…it was all just a misunderstanding, but everything was okay again.  Then I’d wake up and realize it was just a dream.  What I woke up to was the nightmare.
KEVIN: Jesus.
JAYSON: Indeed.
KEVIN: So what’s pissing you off about your dreams now, if it’s not nightmares?
JAYSON: They’re just irritating.  I keep having the same mundane dream night after night, and it’s just a waste of time.  It stressed me out while I’m sleeping.  And it’s just unnecessary.
KEVIN:  Well, in a sense, you’re right…dreams are just your mind trying to process things that you may not be attending to consciously.  In that sense, they can be fascinating windows into our subconscious…lets you deal with emotions and feelings in a symbolic way, rather than confronting things head on.
JAYSON: I don’t think this is that.  As you know, I have some pretty…complicate feelings, and this doesn’t seem to be addressing those at all.
KEVIN: Maybe I can help make the connection for you.  Tell me about your recurring dream.
JAYSON: This time I’ve had the dream the last two or three nights.  The first night, I arrived in a new city that I wasn’t familiar with.  It was kind of like San Francisco (with which I am very familiar) but not.  It was very labyrinthine, parking on the street, a couple of blocks away from wherever I’m going.  Lots of street lights and light from neon signs and that sort of thing (it’s always nighttime in my dreams), and people everywhere, but they were all strangers and couldn’t help me.  There were a couple of casinos, but it’s definitely not Vegas.  I had (apparently) rented a small apartment, but once I left the apartment, I had trouble finding it again.  That went on for a night or two.  Then, in last night’s dream, I was hanging around with an old friend of mine, a female, but nobody specific, and we got into some arbitrary fight, about which I remember nothing, but I didn’t understand why she was so upset with me and thought the whole thing was an overreaction.  I guess I left, but when I couldn’t find the apartment again, I decided it was time to get the hell out of this weird city and go back home.  But then I couldn’t remember where I parked my car.  I was wandering around the city, looking for anything that looked familiar, but found nothing.  I decided to call my friend for help…
KEVIN: Was this the same friend you got into the fight with?
JAYSON: Yes, so she wouldn’t pick up.  I decided the best thing to do would be to return to the apartment, or at least the area it was located in, and do a block-by-block search for my car, but since I couldn’t find the apartment, I didn’t really know where to look.  So I decided to just walk around and try to find it, but no luck, and I quickly got frustrated and quit.
KEVIN: As you tend to do.
JAYSON: Fuck you.  What do you mean?
KEVIN: Do you not think you get frustrated with things a lot?
JAYSON: Constantly.
KEVIN: And you’re typical reaction seems to be to quit.
JAYSON: Well, I don’t know about that.  I’m pretty frustrated right now, but I’m still sitting here.
KEVIN: We’ll see how long that lasts.
JAYSON: You’re a terrible therapist.
KEVIN: Do you think you’re a good patient?
JAYSON: No idea.  I think I’m the most interesting patient you’ve got.
KEVIN: Based on what?
JAYSON: The dolts I see coming into and leaving your waiting room.
KEVIN: Dolts?  I take umbrage.
JAYSON: Come on…every one of them…suburban housewives trying to figure out why they’re sad.
KEVIN: You don’t know that.
JAYSON: The hell I don’t.  I can hear everything they say…this stupid white noise machine does not compensate for the thinness of these walls.
KEVIN: Really…you can hear in the lobby.
JAYSON: Yes, dumbass…sometime I show up to these appointments early just to hear if maybe anything interesting is being discussed.  It never is.
KEVIN:  [scribbling furiously in his notebook]
JAYSON: Anyway, my dream…where was I?  Oh yeah…so I can’t find the car, I can’t find the apartment…then I realize that I’ve been there for several days, and since this is a big city, the car might have been towed at this point, which would mean that I could look for days and never find it.  Then I decide to use my smartphone to see if it could tell me where I parked, but the phone has strange apps on it, none of which work.  Then I wake up.
KEVIN: [scribbling furiously in his notebook]
JAYSON: ….
KEVIN: Okay…so it sounds like this dream is addressing your feelings around change, uncertainty, and connection.  I think we should focus on what the city, getting separated from the apartment, and the car might symbolize.
JAYSON: Sure, why not.
KEVIN: First, the city.  The city that feels like San Francisco but isn’t could symbolize a situation in your life that feels familiar yet disorienting.  You used the world “labyrinthine” to describe the layout, which is interesting. San Francisco, with its hills, lights, and sort of vibrant energy, might represent a place of creativity, or past experiences.  The fact that it’s “not quite” San Francisco could indicate a sense of being close to something meaningful but unable to fully connect with it.
JAYSON: Go on.
KEVIN: The apartment probably represents your personal space, identity, or sense of security.  It’s a sense of stability, comfort, or “home” within yourself.  The increasingly difficulty in finding it could reflect a fear of losing something important, like stability or control.
JAYSON: This is boring.  Why can’t I find the fucking car?
KEVIN: Cars in dreams often symbolize your ability to move forward in life, your drive, or your sense of autonomy .  Losing your car and being unable to find it might indicate feeling stuck, directionless, or powerless in some area of your life.  The fear of it being towed adds a layer of external forces, outside  your control) potentially taking away your means of progress, which could point to anxieties about circumstances or people undermining your goals.
JAYSON: Hmmm.  Slightly more interesting.
KEVIN: I wouldn’t worry about it always being night in your dreams, or the strangeness of the apps on the phone…dreams are sort of low-budget movies that your mind creates.  Details are left sort of out of focus…they take too much brain power…the purpose of the dream is more symbolic broad strokes, rather than details.  The lighting is dim in most people’s dreams because it’s an easy way to avoid having to come up with details.  Same thing with the apps on your phone…that too much detail for your mind to process while it’s busy creating the other aspects of the dream.
JAYSON: That’s probably true about the darkness of everything, but the cellphone not being able to help me find my car seems more relevant than that.
KEVIN: It could be.  What does the cellphone symbolize?
JAYSON: Don’t start with your cheap Socratic banter with me.  I’m paying you, like, $300 an hour…you tell me what the fucking thing symbolizes.
KEVIN: It quite obviously represents communication.  Resources.  In this case, a problem-solving tool.  It’s strange apps and failure to work could symbolize frustration with your usual methods of navigating challenges, e.g., your tendency to get frustrated and quit.
JAYSON: Your mother.
KEVIN: It might suggest that the tools and strategies you employ in real life aren’t working in a current situation.  They aren’t working as expected.
JAYSON: I appreciate your efforts here, but there isn’t a whole lot that is revelatory.
KEVIN: I’m just working with what you give me.  If you want more interesting analyses, have more interesting dreams.
JAYSON: You clown.  I obviously don’t control these things…they are clearly a waste of time and are just irritating.  Isn’t our time about up?
KEVIN: It is…might I suggest journaling about your dreams and your life?
JAYSON: You might, but I will do no such thing.  Isn’t it lunchtime?  I will instead drink whiskey and ruminate darkly on whether or not I’m getting my money’s worth in these sessions.
KEVIN: Fair enough.  See you next week, at the regular time.
JAYSON: Yeah, I’ll be here.
KEVIN: Have a good week.
JAYSON: Blow it out your ass.

N.P.: “JUST LIKE JOHNNY CASH” – Texas Hippie Coalition