Dream Work 101: Inviting in the Treasure
Robin B. Zeiger, Ph.D.
The early morning rays of sunlight reach my half-closed eyes and invite in the consciousness of day. I am a morning person and can easily jump from my bed to begin my routine. Yet, I pause, knowing there is the potential for something much more powerful that must come first. I nestle into my pillows for yet one more moment, I attempt to spend some time between two worlds; the world of my night-sea voyage into the unconscious and the conscious world of possibilities and doing.
It is in these moments that I am sometimes blessed. I begin to “see” and “hear” and “feel” images and scenes and stories from deep within. If I can reach out and grab onto even one small dream piece, other puzzle pieces arrive appear from somewhere within my Self. Slowly I reach for my laptop and begin to type the dream into my dream journal. The process of writing invites much more clarity and feelings.
I am a Jungian analyst. Jungian analysts are a breed of psychotherapists who honor dream work. We often encourage our patients to in some way document dreams. Sometimes we suggest active imagination to work with the images. And sometimes it is wonderful to use dreams as a springboard for creative processes (e.g., sandplay, art therapy, movement and dance therapy).
I honor dream work, not because of theory. I honor dream work because it honors me.
I am blessed with a prolific memory for dreams. It was not until I trained as an analyst that I realized my gift is unusual. Many people remember dreams occasionally (e.g. once a month or a few times a year). I usually remember several a week and sometimes I can remember a few a night.
I suspect I am a Jungian analyst because I remember so many of my dreams.
As an only child, I had a strong fantasy life. I needed my imaginary friends and characters from books and TV to entertain myself. And likewise, I dreamt as a child. My dreams both fascinated and scared me. My earliest dream memory as a young child was of a witch chasing me after I had watched the Wizard of Oz. I had loving parents, but somehow, I don’t remember inviting them into my dreams. In retrospect, I think there was something difficult about being alone with my dreams. As a therapist, I experience a good deal of pleasure in helping young children to talk about scary dreams. Perhaps I too wanted a “me” to help meet the shadowy witches and monsters of the night.
Many people ask me, “How do I remember dreams?”
I have no recipe book that “explains” how to remember. I must confess, I cook like an “artist.” I add a little bit of this and a little bit of that and rarely follow recipes exactly. My husband is the hard scientist who runs a lab. He also levels off the cup of flour when he bakes bread.
Courtesy of Unsplash & Photographer Hannah Olinger— hannaholingerphoto.com
Yet, my little bit of this and little bit of that recipe for remembering dreams is a bit like this:
- Before you go to sleep at night, invite dreams into your world. As you lay down, reflect upon the importance of dreams. And invite your dream psyche to enlighten you.
2. Keep something next to your bed for writing down dreams. Perhaps you are intrigued with an inspirational journal. Or perhaps a pad of paper and pencil are enough. I prefer my laptop since it is easy to keep track of my dreams.
3. Wake up slowly. This is much harder for parents of small children. Sometimes mothers and/or fathers are pounced upon or must jump out of bed. Be gentle on yourself and know that there will be those moments when you can catch a dream.
4. As you wake, try keeping your eyes closed for just one more moment. Search inside for anything. Try not to talk to anyone until you are ready. I have patients who confess they “pretend” to be asleep for a couple more moments until they can check for the dream images. Many spouses, partners, or roomates learn to respect the dreamer’s need for those few moments. Sometimes the other person is inspired to remember and share dreams too. This is what my colleague entitles the “ripple effect” of therapy.
5. If you can’t remember content, search inside for feelings. Our emotions or sensations upon waking can be important clues of our night sea journeys. I have patients tell me that they sometimes wake up so upset or depressed or angry, and they have no idea why. I suggest that they may have just had an important dream they don’t remember. So start there. Write down the feelings and the bodily sensations.
6. Read about dreams. Watch movies about dreams. If it is not something that will disturb your sleep, reflect upon a problem as you are drifting off to sleep. I had a wise algebra teacher in high school. He insisted it was a good thing to reflect upon a problem before you go to sleep in that our minds work on the difficulty while we sleep. I now realize how correct he was, even though he was a mathematician.
7. Dreams are fickle. Sometimes it is easier to remember them and sometimes they evade our consciousness for long periods of time. Some folks remember more dreams when they are relaxed (e.g. on weekends and vacations). And some people remember them when they are more stressed and bothered.
Remain curious and hopeful and most of all have faith. I am absolutely amazed by the power of our psyche. I have had many patients arrive in my office for the first time knowing little of how I work. I ask them if they remember a dream. The answer is something like this, “Funny you should ask. I never remember dreams. However, this morning I woke up with one.” I smile and nod knowingly. I already suspect that this person’s psyche is ready to assist in our work. Often this first naïve dream is very helpful to the ensuring psychotherapy process.
Most of all, don’t become discouraged or give yourself a hard time. I am reminded of an experience I had with one of my first therapists when I was training. He was a very kind, humble, wise and intuitive man who helped me immensely. I brought him some of my very difficult dreams and he truly tried to help. Yet, in his humility, he confessed he was jealous of me. He could not remember his dreams no matter how hard he tried.
What would I say to such a person as his/her therapist? Dreams open a window into the unconscious through the symbolic. Yet, there are many other wonderful options to meet this symbolic world. In situations where people cannot bring dreams, I welcome and encourage other symbolic materials, such as favorite art or music or theatre. I invite them to complete some art therapy or sandplay therapy. In a sense, we are creating a ‘living dream.”
There is also a wonderful tool that one of our teachers, a talented Jungian analyst named Batya Brosch taught us in class. One of us would share a personal dream and we would all associate to the dream as if it were our own. We would not interpret or tell the person how we felt about their dream. We respected their own personal space. But we shared the dream as a group creation. Thus, we would begin with the sentence, “If this were my dream…”
Most of all, I wish and “dream” for each of you to become open to the wonders of the unconscious. Sometimes it is scary and we need another trusted other such as a therapist, partner, or friend to help and “hold” us through the fear and pain. Most all, there is a magic in the world of dreams.
Robin B. Zeiger, Ph.D. is a Jungian analyst and a free-lance writer. She is a member of the Israel Institute for Jungian Psychology and the International Association for Jungian Psychology. She can be reached at rbzeiger@yahoo.com.
Robin has begun to create a series on dream work through Medium.com. Please join her as she adds to the collection.
See One Dream at a Time: Using Our Dreams to Set Our Goals. or
Following My Yellow Brick Road: The Importance of Dreams and Witches.
