Dream Work

The dream is a little hidden door in the innermost and most secret recesses of the soul, opening into that cosmic night which was psyche long before there was any ego-consciousness, and which will remain psyche no matter how far our eg0-consciousness extends.

A dream is too slender a hint to be understood until it is enriched by the stuff of associations and analogy and thus amplified to the point of intelligibility.

The dream is a spontaneous self-portrayal, in symbolic form, of the actual situation in the unconscious.

In each of us, there is another whom we do not know. He speaks to us in dreams and tells us how differently he sees us from the way we see ourselves. When, therefore, we find ourselves in a difficult situation to which there is no solution, he can sometimes kindle a light that radically alters our attitude.

The art of interpreting dreams cannot be learned from books. Methods and rules are good only when we can get along without them.

                        C. G. Jung

This beautiful excerpt from the writings of Carl Jung captures the mystery and fascination of the world of the dream.  Today, we are likely to find in the pop psychology or self-help sections of our local bookstores numerous books on the interpretation of dreams.  Although they may hold information about the history and significance of common dream motifs, images, and the cultural context of symbols, we must heed Jung’s warnings regarding “the art of interpreting dreams”.  Notice the word “art”.  There is nothing particularly “artful” about trying to establish a rigid one-to-one correspondence between our dreams and the commentaries we find in such books.  What is missing in most of these books is an intimate knowledge of the particular dreamer’s psyche, the layers of personal experience and the unconscious reservoir of images, memories, fantasies, etc. that belong to each one of us, and to each alone.

The safe “container” of the psychotherapy relationship allows us to explore in-depth this relationship between the dreamer and the dream.  Sometimes, we need an “objective” eye to help us “open up” the language of the dream, primarily the dream image.  The images of the dream compose a rich and complex language which hails from a time before humans had even developed an oral tradition; it is primal and “pre-historic” in that it precedes the art of writing.  As with our most precious expressions of growth and vitality, for instance, the care and cultivation of delicate plants and flowers, the multiple physical and emotional demands of infants and children, the interpersonal relationships we share with friends, family, and lovers, we must also cultivate or “tend” the dream.  That is, we must approach it with an attitude of concern, care, respect; it is said by some that we actually have an “obligation” to tend to the images of our dreams because they carry with them a special relationship to a higher ordering principle in our lives, one that exists beyond the consciousness of the ego, and which Jung called the Self.

There exist many theories regarding the purpose of dreams in our lives.  One obvious function is a mirroring of external reality; they may provide a commentary or “reflection” on the state of our lives at any given moment.  We know also that they may reveal to us previously unconscious elements from our past.  Another aspect of unconsciousness in the dream is the idea of “compensation”; that is, they may point to what is missing or out of balance in our daily lives.  Although we are all familiar with what are called “prophetic dreams”, (we see these illustrated in the great books of our culture, like the Bible and Greek and Roman mythology), those that seem to foretell certain events, these are actually rare.  What is more common is that dream images, dreams, and dream sequences point to where we might be going, to what (usually heretofore unconscious) our special destiny might be.  To understand these and other elements of dream communication, we must pay special attention and practice a certain mindfulness in regard to them.  The depth psychotherapist is uniquely trained to assist us in this process, often offering commentary regarding deeper levels of the psyche which reflect a “cultural or collective unconscious” in which our own personal dream images are grounded.

Dream tending can be done in the form of individual therapy or in the collective which a dream group provides.  Dream groups are especially powerful in that they provide respectful witnesses and fellow travelers in the art of dream tending.  I have been tending dreams since 1983 and have found them to be the most potent force in my own personal and professional growth and in that of my patients, providing the most direct link between the consciousness of the ego and the more unconscious transcendence of the Self.  It is difficult to capture in writing the beauty and power of this experience; as with most gifts and blessings which come our way, there is no substitute for the real thing.