Dreamwork

Dreamworking differs from classical dream interpretation in that the aim of dreamwork is to explore the various images and emotions that a dream presents and evokes, while not attempting to come up with a single, unique dream meaning. In this way the dream remains "alive" whereas if it has been assigned a specific meaning, it is "finished" (i.e., over and done with). Dreamworkers take the position that a dream may have a variety of meanings, depending on the levels (e.g. subjective, objective) that are being explored.

A tenet of dreamwork is that each person has his or her own dream "language". Any given place, person, object or symbol can differ in its meaning from dreamer to dreamer and also from time to time in the dreamer's ongoing life situation. Thus someone helping a dreamer get closer to her or his dream through dreamwork adopts an attitude of "not knowing" as far as possible.

When doing dreamwork it is best to wait until all the questions have been asked - and the answers carefully listened to - before the dreamworker (or dreamworkers if it is done in a group setting) offers any suggestions about what the dream might mean. In fact, it is best if a dreamworker prefaces any interpretation by saying, "if this were my dream, it might mean ..." (a technique first developed by Montague Ullman M.D., Prof. Stanley Krippner, and Dr. Jeremy Taylor and now widely practiced). In this way, dreamers are not obliged to agree with what is said and may use their own judgment in deciding which comments appear valid or provide insight. If the dreamwork is done in a group, there may well be several things that are said by participants that seem valid to the dreamer but it can also happen that nothing does. Appreciation of the validity or insightfulness of a comment from a dreamwork session can come later, sometimes days after the end of the session.

Further reading

• Delaney, G. New Directions in Dream Interpretation, State University of New York Press, Albany, New York, (1993).
• Freud, Sigmund. Interpretation of Dreams, multiple publishers & translators; 1st pub. Vienna, Austria (1899).
• Garfield, Patricia L , Creative Dreaming (1974) ISBN 0-671-21903-0
• Hoss, R. J. Dream Language, Innersource, Ashland, Oregon, (2005).
• Krippner, S. Dreamtime & Dreamwork, Jeremy P. Tarcher, New York (1990).
• Lasley, J. Honoring the Dream, PG Print, Marietta, Georgia, (2004).
• Muff, J., From the wings of the night: Dream work with people who have acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (1996), Holistic Nursing Practice 10(4):69-87.
• Taylor, J. Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill, Warner Books New York, (1992).
• Ullman, M.; Zimmermann, N. Working with Dreams, Jeremy P.Tarcher Inc., Los Angeles, CA, 1985.
• Ullman, M. Appreciating Dreams: A Group Approach, Cosimo Books, New York, 2006.
• Van de Castle, R. Our Dreaming Mind, Ballantine Books, New York (1994).
• Whitman, R. M., Dreamwork 1966 -- a symposium. An overview of current research into sleep and dreams (1966), Ohio State medical Journal 62(12):1271-2.

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dreamwork

• The International Association for the Study of Dreams Supports and discusses research in dreams and dreaming.
• Dreamwork ethics Ethical guidelines for dreamwork.
• Dream Book A guide to creating your own dream book for personal dream interpretations.