Trust
Dream
I am watching an episode of Van Der Valk. A small-time criminal is found dead on the side of a road, a hit and run victim. It is discovered that he and Van Der Valk knew each other as teenagers. It is further revealed that he was raped and sexually abused as a teenager. There is further evidence that he has been tracking down his rapist and abuser to exact revenge upon him. As this information is revealed, Van Der Valk starts to close down and refuses to talk about this. Is Van Der Valk hiding a secret that he was also raped as a teenager? By the same person?
Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash
Dream notes and associations
Van Der Valk is a BBC crime thriller set in Amsterdam, shown on ABC-TV. Piet Van Der Valk is the head of a homicide squad in Amsterdam. He is very psychologically closed off. Very introverted. Saw a recent episode where an ex-girlfriend is involved in a case he is investigating. The sparks fly between them. She accuses him of never trusting her.
Watching the program, I recognised bits of myself in the character and wondered if the character, Van Der Valk, was sexually abused as a teenager.
At the end of the episode VDV and his team set up a sting to bring down the matriarch of a major criminal family and he allows the ex-girlfriend to participate in the sting. (She is cop herself) In other words he decides to trust her.
My feelings throughout the dream and on awakening
suspence, closed down
Hi Lindsay, I’m wondering whether Van Der Valk is some kind of ally – someone you could relate to with the same experiences. As if your psyche is reaching out to share or connect with someone who has a shared experience of sexual abuse. This might be worth exploring. There’s also a strong theme of revenge here which I have noticed surfaces in your dreams from time to time.
Thinking about my early relationships with girlfriends, Ican recognise VDV’s behaviour towards them. Keeping an emotional distance between them. So that would explain the dream. And yes seeing him as an ally to reach out to. Yes, the theme of revenge is interesting as well.
Also the dream didn’t feel like that I was watching it on TV. It felt like I was there with them in the show. I was kust an observer.
What I meant to say, above, is that I recognized that the way VDV treated his girlfriends reminded me of my early relationships with my girlfriends. Which led to me wondering if the character of VDV had a similar history to me.