The Dream Sourcebook: A Guide to the Theory and Interpretation of Dreams (42 page)

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Authors: Phyllis R. Koch-Sheras

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5. Where will you meet? (We recommend a comfortable location where you will not be disturbed, such as a university or library lounge, a church or other community recreation room, or, if you prefer, someone's home.)
6. Will the group be of the same sex, or mixed? (Sharing in a same-sex group tends to be easier and more free flowing for many people.)
7. What ground rules will there be? (Keeping a dream journal, arriving on time, taking turns on different nights, not smoking or eating during sessions, keeping the dreamwork confidential, etc. Discuss these options to determine preferences.)
8. How will you monitor time? (Especially with larger groups, time is hard to keep track of. You want to agree on enough time for each dream and for the entire session, including all necessary follow-up, so you might want to identify whether a particular dream is highly emotional and perhaps best addressed at the beginning of a session rather than at the end.)
At first, you may hesitate to bare your soul to other group members. Trust takes time, and establishing ground rules helps to build that trust. A set format also helps you build confidence and increase your comfort level. We suggest using the following model as a basis for designing your session framework.
1. Sit in a circle: Eye contact is important, and so is enough room to get up and move around as necessary.
2. Start with what's new and good: Go around the circle, giving all group members a chance to talk about what is
 
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new and good, how they feel right then, what their dream lives have been like, and whether they have dreams to share that session. (Be sure to monitor your time for this.)
3. Share a dream: Have one person tell a dream in the present tense, and then in dream language. It's preferable not to read directly from the dream journal, though a dreamer might wish to refer back to it to check for accuracy or jog the memory. After telling the dream, the dreamer gives it a title and offers comments such as associations to the symbols, relation to the previous day or two, or similarities to previous dreams. If the dreamer has made a dream drawing or other creative piece based on the dream, he or she can introduce it here.
4. Amplify the dream: Other members can discuss the dream, asking questions using Ullman's "If it were my dream" technique and commenting on the dreamer's body language as he or she recounted the dream. Now is the time to employ techniques such as those described in chapter 6dialoguing, role-playing, and finishing or changing the dream.
5. End with follow-up: Bring each dreamworker's turn to a proper close before moving on to the next person. Ullman says this important phase of group dreamwork "involves returning the dream to the dreamer," who sums up what he or she has learned during the session, and asks any remaining questions. (Group members, too, might wish to share what they have gained from another's dream.) The dreamer might make a resolution for future action based on the dreamwork, with the intention of reporting the results in a later session.
 
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It may seem awkward at first to share your dreams so completely with other people. So building trust among group members is important. Scheduling some related events outside the workshop is a way to "team-build" and foster camaraderie. Some suggestions: Visit a gallery to study artwork based on dreams, hold an overnight dream retreat, or invite a guest speaker to lecture or lead a workshop. Over time, your friendships will deepen and grow, creating support for each person and strengthening the bond of the entire group. It is also all right to have no other social contact with your dream group members; you may wish to keep the group a special, separate part of your life. Explore with your group what feels most comfortable for you.
Sharing a Guided Fantasy
Another way to share your dreams and learn about yourself is to use your own dreams to create a guided fantasy for others to follow. With your dream as the raw material, you can present all the elements in a way that helps your partner or group members experience the fantasy much like you experienced the dream. Hearing what they have to say about the fantasy can give you insight into the original dream, deepening your understanding of it, and can also give others an intimate, enriching experience to share with you. These tips can help get you started:
Relax your listeners, perhaps playing some soothing instrumental music. Ask them to get into a comfortable position, then encourage them to take some deep breaths.
Make the fantasy vivid. Include sights, sounds, smells, tastes, movements, and other details that involve your listeners' senses.
 
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Keep it flowing. Use smooth transitions from one scene to the next. (If you think of it as a movie, you will be able to picture smooth versus rough breaks from scene to scene.)
Edit carefully. If there are specific dream elements that might distract from the mood or theme you are trying to convey, leave them out.
End with a neutral or positive scene. Lead your listeners up to the point of conflict, giving them the chance to create their own endings, or change the ending of your original dream in a positive way. Notice their reactions and interpretations.
Dreamwork With a Therapist
Dreams are fertile ground for understanding our own psyches, and they may reveal to us from time to time emotions and conflicts that professional counseling or therapy of some kind might help resolve. If for any reason you want or feel you need professional guidance from a therapist, we encourage you to seek it. After all, psychotherapeutic consultation is not reserved for those who are disturbed or out of control. Personal growth is a positive goal, so desiring help with a particular issue that surfaces in your dreams is reason enough to consult a professional. A dreamworker who comes to a standstill after working on dreams alone or with friends may wish to develop a new level of awareness or understanding by working with a therapist.
Therapy is a good place to take your questions and feelings about the parts of yourself that are difficult or unpleasant to confront as they make themselves known through your dreams.
 
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A competent therapist, one who is experienced in working with dreams, can help you integrate the darker and lighter sides of yourself, using dreams as food for thought and discussion. Consult your state psychological association for referral to a psychologist or other mental health professional who lists a particular interest in dreamwork, or shop around, based on a friend's or physician's recommendations. And remember, you have the right to ask a prospective therapist about interests, qualifications, and background.
In Conclusion: A Community of Dreamers
In dreams, we take the walls down, opening ourselves up to the infinite possibilities within us. Some of these explorations are pleasant, some are horrifying, some are mundane, and some seem downright silly. All of them are our own creations; all of them have ourselves as the source. With
The Dream Sourcebook's
tools at hand, you have the expertise to learn the language and customs of your own personal dreamworld, and the passport you need to visit that world in the mode of explorer and diplomat, negotiating for the ultimate truth that empowers your dreaming and waking lives.
Throughout this book, there are opportunities for you to enlist your dreams to work with you to achieve a more integrated waking and dreaming life. You now know more about what happens when you dream, what the world's cultures have believed about dreams, and what contemporary researchers and theorists have concluded. You know that you can use dreams to explore the frontiers of human consciousness, to solve problems, to foster creative expression, and to promote understanding and
 
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intimacy with family and friends. As the great psychiatrist Carl Jung wrote in
Man and His Symbols
, ''The interpretation of dreams and symbols demands intelligence. It cannot be turned into a mechanical system and then crammed into unimaginative brains."
The Dream Sourcebook
provides you with the information and techniques you need to awaken your mind's imagination to working with your own dreams, collecting the gifts from your dreamworld and presenting them to your waking self.
"The Future Belongs To Those Who Believe In The Beauty Of Their Dreams."
Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady
Dreams can inspire growth and change, in yourself, and in others. Choices become conscious. Feelings become clear. Actions become obvious. Integrating the messages you receive from your dreams into your waking life can enrich your
entire
life. The dreamworld is a world all your own. Go there, find the source, and bring it back to your waking life to share with all.
 
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Bibliography
Introduction
Faraday, Ann.
Dream Power.
New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc., 1972.
Koch-Sheras, Phyllis R., et al.
Dream On: A Dream Interpretation and Exploration Guide for Women.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1983.
Perls, Frederick "Fritz,"
Gestalt Therapy Verbatim.
New York: Bantam Books, 1971.
Chapter 1
Bell, Alison.
The Dream Scene.
Los Angeles: Lowell House, 1994.
Cartwright, Rosalind D.
Night Life: Explorations in Dreaming.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1977.
Dement, William C.
Some Must Watch While Some Must Sleep.
New York: Norton, 1972.
Dolnick, Edward. "What Dreams Are (Really) Made Of."
The Atlantic Monthly
(July 1990).
Faraday, Ann.
Dream Power.
New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc., 1972.

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