Analysis for Josiah, 3 November 1998

This is how you described the room:

The room smells like a pawn shop. A warm greenish wall with dark brown carpet and cheap garage sale paintings on the wall. The furniture is a love-seat that is baby poop colored, like rats gnawed at it.

The initial room is the subject’s childhood. What interests us here is the general atmosphere of the room, in addition to the level of furnishings described by the subject. A very uncomfortable room suggests a highly traumatic childhood. Few, simple furnishings tells us that the subject has few memories of that time. Note the dilapidated conditions of the furnishings, as if the subject looked back upon childhood memories with scorn.

You wanted to leave the room.

The subject wanted to become an adult.

This is how you described the forest:

The forest is dark with a lot of trees. Big oak trees. Very dense. Very little light penetrates. Lots of brush and wild grass growing. Large boulders.

The forest is growing up, and the trees are those adults with whom the subject interacted at that time. Tall trees imply that the adults had a strong influence on the subject. A very dark forest tells us that the subject felt considerably oppressed by the attentions of the adults.

This is how you described the path:

The path is not very traveled. Large boulders in the way you have to walk around...starting to be grown over.

Adolescence is represented by the path through the forest. Poor visibility of the path tells us the subject was often confused by the changes brought on by adolescence. The lack of evidence of fellow travelers suggests strong feelings of isolation at that time. Lots of obstructions on the path indicate many problems during adolescence.

This is how you described the water:

Um....man-made reservoir type. Muddy. Chocolate-milkish looking, foam around the edges of it....bubblies around the coast. Floaties all over in it.

The water is the subject’s sexuality. What interests us here is the clarity of the water (representing attitude) and its movement (representing libido). Stagnant or still water suggests a sex drive that is absent or pathologically inactive, not by choice of the subject. Murky, dirty, or otherwise unclear water suggests that the subject has significant issues regarding sex.

When you came to the water, you went around it.

The subject is not interested in new sexual experiences.

This is how you described the cup:

It's a red glass bottle about one and a half foot long, very small mouth with a cork, and a string tying the cork to the bottle and the bottle looks as if it has been heated and stretched.

The vessel, or specifically the practicality of the vessel, is how the subject approaches marriage or bonding. A container that is both decorative and practical indicates that the subject considers both romantic and pragmatic aspects of marriage.

You left the cup behind.

The subject is not interested in marriage.

This is how you described the key:

The key is a very rusty skeleton key with Celtic inscriptions on it. For some reason it has a very new piece of string tied to it, and it is mud-caked and I had to rub it off to see the designs. I think it unlocks a storm cellar, for some reason.

The key is the ideal career for the subject. What interests us here is how the key appears (representing how others view the career) and what it may open (representing the subject’s goals for the career). Having the key open a house, car, or other commonplace use tells us that the subject has no extraordinary expectations about a career. Old-fashioned keys suggest that the subject desires a traditional career.

You confronted the bear.

In a crisis, the subject prefers the direct, no-nonsense approach.

When you came to the wall, you jumped over it.

The wall represents death: by jumping over it, the subject not only acknowledges death but has come to accept its finality.