Ask Dr Louise

I divorced my first husband 20 years ago and went on with my life. I worked through the issues that led to the divorce, remarried 10 years later and I’m happy with my second husband. We’ve built a good life together. He has two children whom I love to bits and they love me too and are good to me.

I haven’t had any contact with my first husband since our divorce, but recently I started dreaming about him (not romantic dreams). I’ve also said his name a number of times when I meant to say another name. What could this possibly mean? I don’t miss him or want to go back to him as he was abusive. Lynette, email

There is a branch of psychology called parapsychology which looks at paranormal experiences. One of the beliefs within parapsychology is that human beings are able to communicate with one another on a psychic level. This is referred to as telepathy, and it comes from the Greek words tele (meaning distant) and pathos (meaning feeling or perception).

Telepathy is the transmission of information from one person to another without using any of the known human sensory channels or physical interaction.

Most scientists knock the existence of telepathy because of a lack of research. However, I believe I’ve personally experienced this phenomenon – I have on a number of occasions asked my secretary to contact a patient because I sense something is wrong only to find that is indeed the case.

Your first husband might be thinking a lot about you at the moment, and about what went wrong. He may even have some regrets and your subconscious mind is picking up these thoughts. It’s nothing to be alarmed about as what is important is that you are happy with your second husband and have made a good life for yourself with him. The dreams will most likely stop at some point.