Healing through Dreaming: Reclaiming the Power of Dreams in Therapy

In this course, clinicians will receive a re-introduction to their dreams and the dreams of their clients with the aim of empowering them to use dream material within a clinical setting. 

We will begin the class with a historical overview of the role of dreams in indigenous and animistic culture, how dreams have been understood in the context and history of Western psychology, and how we can reclaim their power in today’s context from an eco-psychological and social justice perspective. 

We will then review ways to conceptualize what dreams are and how they can be relevant to clients. This will include basic dreamwork rules of thumb and general guidelines to ensure the safe and effective use of dream material in sessions. We will also review typical obstacles and blocks that can arise in dreamwork and how to assess whether it’s the right time to introduce dream material. Finally we will discuss how dream material can be integrated into other therapeutic methods like EMDR and SE. 

Finally I will provide a few example case studies and then lead participants in individual and small group activities that will highlight tools and techniques for dreamwork and focus on the experiential component of therapeutic dreamwork as the driver of change.