Dream Interpretation Workshop (Virtual)

Dream work can be a profound spiritual practice for developing a dialogue between our conscious and unconscious minds in the arena of small group conversation. Through careful discussion of dream scenes, symbols, associations and structures, our group workshops engage collectively in dream interpretation that enriches our creative imagination. Dreams are believed to be images created in our minds, just like art, music, stories, poetry and movies. Even nightmares can alert us to valuable information from beyond our conscious awareness that contributes to our self-understanding and guidance. They offer new ways of thinking that can add to our waking thoughts, goals and beliefs and help us with the challenges we are currently facing.

Workshops are like musical jam sessions where dreamers and other workshop participants explore dream themes and meanings both for themselves and for what they might mean for all of humanity. In this process, we explore the dream’s themes, symbology, and message to the dreamer. Our dream interpretation groups allow dreamers and other participants to identify the insights and connections that resonate most with their own personal lives.

Instructor: Norman Brown, PhD

In this workshop you will:

• Learn methods for improving dream recall.
• Develop a conversation between waking consciousness and the dream’s narrative for guidance on the path of life.
• Appreciate the process of dreams emerging from the night as rough scenes in artworks.
• Discover each dream as reflections on many aspects of the dreamer’s life.
• Develop sensitivity to the uniqueness and multiple meanings of the dream’s symbols.
• Gain familiarity with the dream self as hero, the unconscious spaces, the animus and anima and other archetypes, visitation dreams, lucid dreaming, the logic of scene sequence, and the collective unconscious as keys to unlock the dream’s secrets.

Dates: Thursdays 10/23 - 12/18 4-6pm PST

Where: Online

Price: Sliding scale please call or email for pricing.

About the Instructor: Norman Brown Earned a Ph.D. in Humanities and German Studies at Stanford. During his first professorship he found a calling as a leader in experiential education, both in dramatizations of folklore, literature and dreams and in summer backpacking courses in the Sierra. He also cofounded his first of many men’s groups, where he focused on emotions many years before this gained popularity.

His second calling was to psychotherapy, leading to an M.A. in Clinical Psychology, an MFT license in 1976 and 41 years of practice ending in 2017. His second professorship included both humanities and psychology, where his central teaching focus was on love relations and led to a Psychology Ph.D. and writing the textbook “Love and Intimate Relationships” (2000) that combines current research and clinical and practical understanding. He has studied scientific approaches to understanding and changing emotions for over 30 years, which has led to his present endeavor to develop an effective program for improving our emotional versatility and thus stimulating the evolution of our species.

He is a feminist and has been a member of the Millennial Association for Humanity and the Biosphere, founded by Paul Ehrlich, the International Association for Relationship Research, the Silvan Tomkins Institute and the Pachamama Alliance.