“I have no theory about dreams; I do not
know how dreams arise. And I am not at all sure that my way of handling dreams
even deserves the name of a ‘method’. I share all your prejudices against dream
interpretation as the quintessence of uncertainty and arbitrariness. On the
other hand, I know that if we meditate on a dream sufficiently long and thoroughly,
if we carry it with us and turn it over and over, something almost always comes
of it.” (Jung, 1966)
Dreams, with their
enigmatic and often baffling nature, have fascinated humankind for centuries.
For as long the purpose and meaning of dreams has caused controversy. Some
believe that dreams are divine and supernatural messages to be interpreted by the
gifted; others dismiss them as a biochemical products of the brain at rest,
while yet others assume that dreams process information compiled during the
day.
Both Freud and Jung,
regarded as the fathers of modern psychology, saw dreams as important tools in
psychotherapy. According to them dreams can provide invaluable insights into
the client’s image of self, defense mechanisms and core conflicts, and research
findings show this to be true.
However there are many
different approaches to dream interpretation – how to decode the meaning of a
dream, how to interpret it and how to use the insights it provides. These
approaches are as different as the diverse schools of thought that birthed
them, and counselors are encouraged to explore these many different approaches
to find one that best suits their style of counseling.
For those who have
neither the time nor resources to undertake such an investigation, the approach
used by Gendlin, an experiential
therapist, could prove a useful starting point. His approach contains important
aspects of the three main theories underpinning our modern understanding of
dreams and dream analysis.
Freud described dreams
as the “royal road to the unconscious mind” (Freud, 1913) and that the meaning
of a dream could be found in the events of the day preceding the dream. However,
those events could have aroused emotions and associations that the dreamer finds
unacceptable or have repressed, and so in the dream they would be disguised or
veiled in strange images and puzzling happenings. The work of dream analysis
was to unveil these hidden desires, impulses, emotions and associations.
Jung believed Freud's notion of dreams to be too simplistic. Dreams, he
said, were far richer and more complex and in fact had their own unique language
– the language of metaphor. The task of dream analysis was to decode that
language and so have access to the wealth of insight they contained.
Perls viewed dreams as a
spontaneous expression the parts of the personality that are being left
unexpressed. He believed that the goal of dream work was to re-experience in
the here and now the content of the dream so that these disowned aspects of the
personality could be reintegrated (Coolidge, 2006). True to the Gestalt
approach dreams are re-lived in the session with the client acting out parts of
the dream by using tools such as the “empty chair technique”.
Incorporating aspects from these theories, Gendlin held that dreams could
only be meaningfully interpreted by the dreamer (Gendlin, 1986) and so the best
way to begin analyzing a dream was to encourage the client to engage with it. He
used the Freudian technique of free association, Jung’s theory that each image
or person represented an aspect of self, and the gestalt approach of
re-experiencing the dream in the here and now, including Perls’ “empty chair”
technique in which he invited the client to enter into a dialogue with a
particular dream character or element.
Once the client had explored and expressed the key emotions and issues in
the dream, Gendlin would then encourage an exploration of how the dream and its associations related to the
client’s current challenges or conflicts.
Key to Gendlin’s approach are questions designed to
lead the client into exploring the dream material more fully and more meaningfully,
namely:
- What thoughts or feelings arise when thinking about or visualizing the dream?
- When last did you feel this way?
- What does this feeling make you think of?
- What do you remember about yesterday?
- What occupied you internally?
- Summarize the story of your dream. Ask yourself: “What in my life is like this story?
- Think of each person in the dream, or the central characteristic of the person, as a part of yourself.
- Does the dream make sense if you understand it as a story about how you feel about that part of yourself?
- Look at the important objects in your dream. What is it? What is it used for?
- Replace the object with the general function, place this in the dream and see if this brings insight.
- What in your dream is different from the true or normal situation? What meaning could be attached to this?
- Can your dream connect to a memory, feeling or experience from your childhood?
- What current themes exist in your life regarding your development or growth?
- Can the dream or characters in it be about something that you are still developing or that you should work on?
(Gendlin, 1986)
Guidelines for using
dream work in therapy
In order for dream work to be meaningful, the
therapist must firstly believe in the significance of dreams and find an approach
to dream work that fits into the therapist’s overall theoretical approach. Secondly, dream work should always be rooted within
the broader therapeutic process since the individual’s psychological
functioning at the time of dreaming is as important as the content of the dream
itself. Thirdly, therapists are advised to take an inquisitive stance towards
their clients’ dreams and to act as facilitators only, helping the clients
explore their own dreams. This approach is especially important in the South African
context with its rich cultural milieu, where a therapist may lack the cultural
information that contextualizes the clients’ experiences. Dreams hold
multi-faceted meaning which is greatly impacted by cultural norms and
traditions and create a unique and valuable meeting place for Westernized
psychology principles and African belief systems.
Finally, rather than immediately focussing on
“finding the meaning of the dream”, clients must be encouraged to write down
the dream after waking, since this should produce the purest possible version
of the dream. Interestingly it seems that dream journaling improves the ability
of remembering dreams over time.
Concluding
remarks
It is unlikely that
consensus will be reached on the meaning of dreams. However theorists seem to
agree that disregarding the significance of dreams is to disconnect ourselves
from a part of our awareness and in doing this, disowns a part of ourselves. Perhaps the key to approaching dreams is to leave
behind dichotomous thinking that forces individuals to decide on the meaning of
dreams. Humans are body, soul and mind and perhaps dreams should be viewed as
complex experiences that are products of our holistic existence. In fact, some
therapists suggest aiming to integrate dreams instead of purely analyzing,
stating that to purely view dreams as a message is to underestimate them.
Encouraging an
awareness and curiosity about dreams teaches openness for the infinite
complexity of our unconscious, as well as consciousness, and in this the positive
impact of dream work may reach much further than insight regarding dreams.
References
Coolidge, F. L. (2006).
Dream interpretation as a
psychotherapeutic technique: An introduction to Fritz Perls' dream
interpretation techniques. Milton Keynes: Radcliffe Publishing.
Freud, S. (1913). The interpretation of dreams. (A. A.
Brill, Trans.) New York: The Macmillan Company. (Original work published 1900).
Gendlin, E. T. (1986). Let your body interpret your dreams.
Wilmette: Chiron Publications.
Jung, C. G. (1974). Dreams. Princeton: Princeton University
Press.
Jung, C. G. (1966). The Practice of Psychotherapy: Essays on the
Psychology of the Transference and other Subjects. Princeton: Princeton
University Press.
About the author:
Liani
Krüger is a registered clinical psychologist currently employed by the South
African National Defence Force. She is passionate about applying psychology in
the South African context.
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