DREAMWORK

There are two basic contemporary positions regarding dreams. One holds that dreams are grounded in meaningless, incoherent brain activity that is then given a semblance of order by higher brain centers. The other position, which is the basis of this chapter, is that many dreams are produced by a distinct form of intelligence which expresses itself through stories that make extensive use of image and metaphor (see chapter on Analytical and Unitive Knowing). This intelligence is primarily self-referential and generates strong affective and kinesthetic responses. The evidence supporting each position is well documented by Harry F. Hunt in his book, The Multiplicity of Dreams: Memory, Imagination, and Consciousness.

According to Hunt, there are four basic kinds of significant dreams. They are found in all cultures. Anthropologists report that tribal peoples describe them as personal dreams, medical-somatic dreams, prophetic dreams, and big dreams. Big dreams are archetypal or spiritual in nature.

According to Hunt, all dreams are grounded in remembered, personal material, most of which is of minor importance. However, some memory dreams are very powerful and important. Examples of this include the dreams associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dreams in which repressed material emerges.

Although about 80% of dreams are relatively meaningless reorganizations of memory fragments, the unitive consciousness is very active in the remaining 20%. It will transform a mundane, realistic dream into something much more than the simple reorganization of memory. In Hunt’s summary of contemporary dream research, these special dreams fall into roughly the same categories as the four categories of dreams reported by primitive peoples.

The first type includes dreams that tell complex stories and often include various types of word play such as puns, assonance, metonymy, and rebus. Frequently these dreams are in reference to unresolved history and emotional conflicts.

The second category reflects a sensitivity to physical health and physiological processes. The third type of dream makes extensive use of visual metaphor and sometimes evolves into archetypal dreams. Archetypal dreams present “major existential life themes” with a strong sense of “felt meaning and portent” (Hunt, p. 129) that is directly within the dream rather than the “aha” following conscious analysis, which is often the case with other kinds of dreams.

The fourth dream type in Hunt’s model includes those dreams that focus on External World concerns and problems, such as dreams of impending disaster or dreams that present intuitive solutions to vexing problems. Any dream that emphasizes one of these types will usually include elements of one or more of the others as well.

Meaningful dream interpretation depends upon the realization that dreams are designed for varying purposes. For instance, a scientist might have a type four dream that offers an intuitive solution to a particular laboratory problem. If he or his therapist insisted on working through the dream under the assumption that all dreams are references to early life history, the real value of the dream would be lost. Similarly, if a somatic dream that was trying to draw an individual’s attention to an impending heart problem was interpreted through Jungian amplification as the reexpressing of an ancient archetypal myth, the client would be both misled and left at serious risk.

If a therapist is willing to accept that there are several fundamentally different kinds of dreams, his approach will be much more flexible. Some dreams are quite transparent and easily understood. They need no interpretation, merely acceptance by the Ego. Other dreams, although relatively easy to understand, benefit from being reinforced and amplified so that the Ego can receive their full impact. Still others are relatively meaningless to the Ego, but upon working through are found to be profound metaphorical comments on internal conflicts and their historical antecedents. These dreams are best approached through some form of associative processing.

The Dreamwork methodology I have developed and describe in this chapter is designed to enhance the Ego’s connection to the dream without any preconceived assumption regarding the type of the dream. As the Ego more and more fully allows itself to be impacted by the dream metaphors and/or narrative, the type of dream and its particular meaning will become evident.

The first decision a therapist needs to make regarding Dreamwork is whether or not to use it in a particular session. I have developed a hierarchy of options for therapy that offer me what I feel to be the most effective therapeutic outcome. If the Internal Work is flowing well, I will usually continue to make it the principle focus of therapy. By flowing well I mean that there is a clear, purposeful direction to the process. However, if there has been a major trauma in the External World or a dream that seems to be very important, I will give that precedence.

When the Internal Work is not flowing well, I will focus on Dreamwork as my next option. If the client does not recall any dreams, I will use a specific guided Internal Journey (such as Anger’s cave or Fear’s abyss) to help open up new material.

Some people, such as myself, seem to be largely incapable of Internal Work. We experience relatively little imagery or spontaneity in the process. In this instance, Dreamwork is invaluable if the therapist wants to do more than mere ego level therapy.

Dreams are even freer of ego control than most Internal Work. They also provide client and therapist with established symbols and scenarios that can be reclaimed and embraced through Internal Work. This is a great help to those of us who have trouble accessing internally generated symbols without the help of a preceding dream. The dream provides images, scenarios, feelings, and other reactions that can be worked with in the same style as Internal Work. My most powerful personal therapy sessions are always when we have done in-depth Dreamwork.

Additionally, people who are resistant to Internal Work, thinking it silly or strange, are much more likely to think that their dreams are relevant and worthy of attention. This is especially so if they have had a nightmare, a repetitive dream, or a dream that feels important. They will tend to be open to Dreamwork, whereas meeting and dialoguing with an inner part may seem bizarre.

There is a world of difference between the Dreamwork that I teach and the dream work typically done in therapy. Dreamwork is as different from ordinary dream analysis as Internal Work is from conventional psychotherapy. As with Internal Work, the principle difference centers on the issue of authority.

Most attempts to use dreams as a resource for healing are derailed because the therapist operates under the assumption that he is “the one who knows.” The therapist assumes that the client needs to learn from him the meaning or significance of the dream experience. This assumption greatly reduces the potential impact of the dream, and it makes little difference whether the therapist is right or wrong about the interpretation.

I know of very few resources for dream work that approach dreams in any way other than as something to be interpreted with the help of an expert. This is the case no matter what school is represented, with the exception of certain facets of Gestalt therapy. Even those dream therapies that rely on the client’s own intelligence and intuition in order to discern the meaning of the dream still often miss much of the dream’s gift, because they are largely analytical exercises that do not involve actual reentry into the dream.

In Gestalt therapy, the approach to dreams is much more experiential than intellectual. This is a considerable advance over the more traditional modes. Yet Gestalt also falls short, because there is too much therapist control. The therapist decides how to attack the dream and which dream figures to dialogue with. Also, he frequently structures the dialogue. Additionally, most Gestalt therapists assume that all dream figures are reflections of the dreamer. This is not true, and such an assumption will frequently distort the dream’s message. Furthermore, Gestalt work with dreams, like Gestalt work in general, is psychodramatic work that is usually done without trance, which I perceive as a major flaw. When dream work is done without trance, there is frequently too much egocentric distortion for the full impact and meaning of the dream to come through.

Neither the therapist, nor the client at ego level, can fully know most significant dreams. I have some very intelligent, well read clients whose interpretations of their own dreams sound quite plausible. Yet compared to Dreamwork, these interpretations are usually inaccurate and/or incomplete. They may be close, but they will often miss important elements or significant nuances. Almost invariably they will miss most of the power in the dream. It is simply not possible to fully appreciate most dreams with the intellect alone.

Most dream symbols and processes are subjective expressions of realities within the client’s Internal World. I want to underscore that these are personal symbols. There is no code or dictionary of symbols that will ever make possible an objective science of dream interpretation. Dreams are subjective statements, usually presented for the sake of the client’s healing. One striking exception is when an antagonistic, split off part generates a dream as a way of attacking the Ego.

One client dreamed that life was hopeless and that she was worthless. The dream was powerful and the message was clear and convincing. This was exactly the intention of the dream. In the Dreamwork, we sought out the source of the message. It turned out to be a split off Anger that was trying to weaken and control the Ego. The dream was useful, but it was not useful based on the simple assumption that everything in a dream is true. There was certainly a truth behind it, which was that a part of the person was very angry and attacking the individual, but the dream message itself was not true.

Dreams can either reflect Internal World processes or comment on External World realities that are relevant to the Internal World. Health, personal safety, and intimate relationships are frequently the focus of dream content; all of these are central to the pursuit of wholeness.

For instance, whether I am in an unhealthy, manipulative relationship or a genuine, loving relationship with someone is exceedingly important to the Internal World. The people of the opposite sex in my dreams are not necessarily representations of my own contrasexual element. The woman in the dream may well be the woman I am engaged to. When I see her turn into a vampire who is drinking my life blood, it may be a warning about the relationship. Additionally, it may be that she reflects a negative contrasexual element within myself, but this need not necessarily be the case. Likewise, if I dream that the wheels are falling off my car, it could be saying that my spiritual journey is stagnating. It might also mean that my car is in dangerous condition and I need to take care of it.

Many therapists who work with dreams try to teach people how to modify their dream experience so it will not be so overwhelming, terrifying, or difficult. This is a way of distorting the dream, by manipulating it according to what the client or therapist thinks is right and good. The impact of the dream is diminished and its message possibly lost.

On rare occasions, some people seem capable of generating self-serving dreams. These dreams seem to be dominated by an egocentric need to reinforce chosen positions. The Ego can generate dreams just like any other part of the psyche. Such an Ego must have a very strong need to validate its position. Although a therapist may strongly suspect that a dream is egocentric, it may be very difficult to discern with any certainty.

All of this being said, the fact remains that most dreams reported in therapy are from the Center, extremely accurate, and very useful.

Repetitive dreams, especially, point to issues of significant consequence. If a person has a repetitive dream, it should be placed near the top of the therapeutic agenda. Also, if a client presents a crystal clear dream, remembered in detail, and such dream recall is unusual for him, this is a signal that significant attention should be given to that dream.

I had a dream that was the grounding dream of my life. It was crystal clear and remains so to this very day. It was unlike any of my other dream experiences. That dream was screaming to be paid attention to, and I have benefited considerably from attending to it.

Dreams tend to reflect every function of the psyche - internal issues, resolving history, denied aspects trying to have a voice, inner conflicts between parts or between parts and the Ego, ownership of instinctual energies, and protecting oneself from External World threats of various kinds. Everything the psyche does, dreams reflect. Dreams are part of being fully human and reflect the whole gamut of human experience.

Although the vast majority of dream symbols are subjective, there are some universal patterns to be found in dreams. Jung called these patterns archetypes. Archetypes can be either figures or processes. Inner Wisdom, which often appears in the form of the wise old man, is a universal archetype that I purposefully seek to connect with in Internal Work. The Great Mother and the Divine Child are similar archetypes.

The process of moving through death to life - the death of egocentricity in order to live out of the True Self - is an archetypal process. Wherever there are human beings, this process is acknowledged and ritualized.

Some symbols seem to have universal archetypal meanings as well. For instance, water is a fairly universal symbol for entering one’s depth or Internal World. In different ways, crystals, gold, circles, and squares all seem to represent the True Self. For women, horses seem to symbolize masculine energy and sometimes healing. Volcanoes almost always point to anger. There are probably somewhere between twenty and thirty figures, processes, or symbols that consistently present in dreams and Internal Work. However, there is no reason why the therapist or client should be particularly adept at interpreting them. Their meaning will be self-evident within the course of the Dreamwork.

Dreams should be embraced and experienced rather than merely interpreted by either the therapist or the client. Interpreting a dream reduces the dream experience to an analytical process. What could be a transforming encounter is turned into a verbal exercise in logic or erudition.

There are many false assumptions among therapists regarding dreams and dream work. The first, from Freud, is that the unconscious uses symbols in order to hide unbearable truths. Actually, the unconscious designs its symbols in order to offer the Ego the maximum opportunity to encounter internal realities. The symbols are carefully chosen to impact the Ego in every way possible in order to facilitate maximal change. They are not designed to hide anything.

A second false assumption is that all dream figures represent internal realities. Although most dream figures do represent internal realities, some are externally referenced.

Another false assumption is that dreams simply replay whatever was done during the day. As many as 80% of all dreams may well be just this, but the other 20% are far more (Hunt, 1988).

A final assumption is that the client dreams in ways designed to please the therapist. This is possible. If pleasing the therapist or having the right kind of experience is very important to the Ego, it can precipitate an egocentrically determined dream that will present exactly what it believes is expected.

Because dreams are an attempt by the Internal World to communicate with the Ego, the Ego’s beliefs and milieu will have some influence on dream content. The less rigid the system out of which the therapist works, the less constrained will be the dream processes of his clients.

It is only partly true that special therapeutic expertise is necessary to make full use of clients’ dreams. The ability to analyze the content of dreams in terms of archetypes, myths, etc., is of minor relevance to Dreamwork. Knowing how to work with the flow of the dream and how to bring the client into an effective connection with the dream is extremely valuable. The therapist does have a place, but as catalyst, not analyst; not as one who knows, but as one who stands with the dreamer, supporting and encouraging the dreamer as he embraces the dream, and the transforming impact of the dream’s symbols. This is very different than merely understanding the dream.

The point of Dreamwork is to achieve some kind of potential change. That is why people come to therapists, and that is why people look at dreams. However, dream analysis per se, even at its very best, results only in a change in understanding and rarely leads to any kind of long term change in lifestyle or personality. Analysis and understanding are minor aspects of Dreamwork. Analysis is a logical dilution of the dream’s full gift. By itself, it will always be deficient and will frequently be in error. A great piece of art can only be known in the full sense through intimate, focused experience. An erudite essay about art is no substitute.

Effective Dreamwork depends upon the therapist’s attitude toward the client and his capacity for facilitating the most powerful possible unfolding of the dream experience. What is necessary is that the therapist believe in the client’s intelligence. More importantly, he must believe in the presence of a deep intelligence and healing drive within the client that is designing the dreams for the purpose of furthering the client’s wholeness.

A therapist who is able to work effectively with dreams is humble and has an abiding respect for the wisdom that will unfold as the client consciously encounters the dream.

Both the therapist and the client can only know a dream through its experience. A good parallel would be the difference between being told about someone and trying to know that person on the basis of that data, as opposed to living with the individual. Effective Dreamwork is living with and in the dream experience.

Remembering and recounting the original dream is not sufficient in most instances to help a person really be in the midst of the dream. Although a person may remember a dream quite clearly, memory itself is still a step removed from the actual dream experience. An individual may have visited Paris and remember it well enough to describe it clearly to a friend, but that is not the same as walking around the Eiffel Tower or sitting in a Parisian sidewalk cafe. This is the difference between Dreamwork and traditional dream analysis.

The first step in doing Dreamwork is recounting the dream. The client must tell the therapist the dream in as much detail as possible. The therapist then guides the client into trance and, using the data the client has provided, slowly takes the client back through the dream experience. Most of the time it is important to take extensive notes of the dream as the client recounts it so that the sequence and symbols are in the proper order.

Taking the client into the dream experience begins in the same way as taking the client into Internal Work, with a deep relaxation exercise. The intention is to dissociate the Ego from external phenomena and concerns, and open the Ego so that its defense mechanisms will be less likely to get in the way of the flow of the experience. Once the client is deeply relaxed, he is taken to the opening scene of the dream.

Re-experiencing the dream with full conscious intentionality is the second step. This process has far greater impact and significance than simply recalling the dream. The emotional power of the symbols, and their ability to actually move or transform the Ego, demands that they be thoroughly and intensely encountered. It is unlikely that just talking about an experience will wrench a person out of her ordinary expectations and intentions and demand change. When she is in the midst of an experience, especially one as powerful as a dream can be, then its numinous quality breaks through and she will be different from having been there in full conscious awareness.

In the reliving of the dream, the therapist continually encourages the client to fully experience the dream with as many senses and as much awareness as possible. For instance, if the dream symbol is a rock, I suggest that the client try to lift it. I encourage her to feel the rock’s surface, smell it, look at its colors - to actively embrace it with all of her senses. As I encourage the client to fully explore the dream symbol, I place special emphasis on experiencing all the emotions precipitated by the dream experience.

Also, it is frequently helpful to dialogue with the dream figures. If there is a wolf in the dream, it would be important to experience the wolf in every way that the wolf will allow. I might suggest petting it and looking at it. I would encourage the client to be aware of his feelings as he interacts with the wolf. Additionally, I would suggest that the client ask the wolf who it is and what it wants. Dialogue with dream figures, even inert ones, will usually call forth a response. The response will enable the client to enter more deeply into what that symbol is about. Finally, I might suggest that the client become the wolf and let herself fully experience the wolf’s reality. Again, the purpose in this work is not merely to figure out the symbol. Analysis as such will frequently foster detachment and diminish the dream’s power. The purpose is to be in an intimate relationship with the dream so that it can move one beyond oneself.

Throughout the process, the client should be continually encouraged to be aware of his emotions in response to whatever part of the dream he is exploring. He should also attend to any associations that come to mind or physical sensations that are precipitated as he encounters the dream object. The associations can involve personal history, External World issues, or Internal World figures or processes. If this is done systematically, the real power of the dream will come through. The client will be moved by the dream. One cannot predict where the associations, emotions, or sensations will take a person, but it will invariably be what the person needs.

This intensification of the dream experience through careful exploration of the symbols should be continued through to the end of the dream. Allow the dream to tell its own story and come to its own conclusion. Whatever manipulation is done to the dream should be done for the sake of re-experiencing the dream, not for making the dream become different.

Once this process is complete, there will be no doubt as to what the dream is about. The impact of a significant dream cannot be contained in words. Nevertheless, it is useful to try to put it into words, so that the analytical part of the mind is honored and can offer its gifts. However, these are almost always secondary.

This is not the end of the Dreamwork. There is a third phase, response. During the response phase, dream processes and outcomes can be altered, but they should not be changed without good reason. To do so would simply be a reflection of egocentric need on the part of the client and/or the therapist. If the Ego alone alters a dream, it will tend to conform the dream to already existing life patterns. The point of most dreams is to foster change. How to respond to a dream is best determined either by one of the dream figures that has an element of wisdom about it or by the client’s Inner Wisdom. The procedure for doing Dreamwork is summarized below.

Summary of Dreamwork Procedure

1. Have the client recount the dream in as much detail as possible.

2. Guide the client into a meditative state (see appendix A).

3. Guide the client through a re-experiencing of the dream, using the BASK model to connect the client as powerfully as possible to the experience.

4. Encourage the client to explore the dream symbols and figures. This may include dialoguing with them.

5. Have the client summarize the dream’s teaching.

6. With the client still in trance, have him respond to the dream, following the suggestions of his Inner Wisdom.

Because most of my clients utilize Internal Work and have a wisdom figure, it is simple to suggest that they ask Wisdom to provide some direction regarding the proper response to the dream. Inner Wisdom will usually offer some specific directions, which the client then follows within the context of the dream through active imagination. If the changes the client makes within the dream are in tune with the healing the dream was designed to precipitate, they will give the Ego a rush of energy, and a determination to make parallel changes in the External World. It will be like a powerful hypnotic suggestion and will have real potency for altering the client’s life.

For example, a female client was working with a dream that pointed out how her willingness to submit to various men who used her in a variety of ways reflected the ways she was used as a child. When the Dreamwork had made the connection powerfully clear to her, we asked her Wisdom what we should do. Wisdom said, “Get the hell out of the house. (The dream symbol for her oppression by men.) Get out of there.” So she did. She left the house, determined never to return. I believe that it is unlikely that she will ever return to that kind of pattern, having left it in the dream. There had been several months of therapy that helped give her the strength to follow through with her commitment. This probably prepared her so that the dream could come with its invitation. But the dream crystallized that particular focus in the therapy in a potent, experiential fashion so that when Inner Wisdom said, “Do it,” she did it with conviction and energy.

In another woman’s dream, a positive animus dream figure gave the woman a running commentary on the dream. He explained what was happening, why it was happening, and how she should respond. She was both experiencing the dream and responding to it simultaneously, with the help of expert guidance.

Generally I prefer to keep the two phases separate. First the re-experiencing and embracing of the dream, then the response. However, when a wisdom figure or dream figure assumes direction of the process I almost always defer.

Another way of responding to a dream is to let it continue beyond its original conclusion. This will frequently underscore and reinforce the Dreamwork.

Sometimes there will be no need to do anything with the dream beyond embracing what it offers. A good example of this is a dream from another one of my female clients. The dream had a variety of powerful statements for her. One statement was that a man with whom she was involved was not good for her. He was playing games and the dream made that abundantly clear. That matter did not need any further elaboration. There was also another male figure, who treated her with the utmost loving, tender respect, in counterpoint to the game player. I encouraged her to go snuggle up to this man, to be embraced by him, to feel his energy and celebrate it. This is no different than what she had already experienced in the dream. I simply encouraged her to go back for more of the same- My belief was that the dream image would be the best possible reinforcer she could have for accepting a nurturing relationship.

In-depth Dreamwork is hard to do without a therapist. Most people need to be in a dissociated state. They also need to be guided and encouraged to fully encounter the dream symbols, which may be threatening or painful. With a therapist serving as a catalyst, it is much easier to embrace the dream. In working with my own dreams there is no comparison between what I achieve on my own and what happens with the help of my therapist.

Usually Dreamwork is best done with recent dreams, but if an old dream feels important and the client has relatively clear data as to what the dream was about, it can be worked with effectively. Sometimes clients will report that they have only a vague sense of a dream. If the client can be encouraged to start talking about the dream, much of it will sometimes return.

Following the Dreamwork, I help the person refocus externally. I take time to make sure that the client is open to the dream. If there are any problems with the dream, we talk them through. Usually there will be no problems, but occasionally the Ego will be resistant. If left unresolved, this resistance may undo most of the Dreamwork.

If there is no time or opportunity for in-depth Dreamwork, I will simply suggest to the client that she ask her Wisdom what the dream is about. Most of the time, the wisdom figure will offer a concise explanation. However, even when Wisdom is willing to explain the dream, the person is still deprived of the full impact of the dream. Dreams are designed to precipitate transformation, and that involves the whole of our being - senses, emotions, body, mind, etc.

There are therapists who prescribe rituals or symbolic artifacts to help people embrace their dreams. This can have a powerful impact; however, I prefer that the client make her first response to the dream within the context of Dreamwork. It is much smoother then, and tends to be more powerful because the power of the symbols is being immediately experienced within their original context. Following this, some external expression of the symbols can be helpful, but the first priority is to make the external life changes implicit in the dream. When there has been a response to the dream within the Dreamwork, it will be relatively easy to make a parallel response to life externally. If the opportunity to make this change is not taken soon after the Dreamwork, the energy will dissipate and old patterns will reassert themselves.

One special benefit of Dreamwork done in this style is that during the re-experiencing of the dream, the Internal World may modify the dream spontaneously in order to enhance its message or make additional points within the same context. In one instance, several of the dream symbols refused to take their original form during the Dreamwork. The dream as re-experienced in the Dreamwork had a very different outcome from the original dream. As we compared the two, we noticed that the original dream was a statement of the individual’s destiny if he continued disowning his personal power. The second version of the dream clearly stated his potential. The contrast between the two was striking and deeply moved the individual.