Dreamwork in the light of emotional and spiritual intelligence*

Daniel Deslauriers, Ph.D.

Journal of Advanced Development (Vol. 9, 2000, 105-122)

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Abstract: As a natural, adaptive and transformative process, dreams are intimately
related to the unfolding of the self. This paper discusses how specific dream-related
skills-- metaphorical and imagistic thinking; appreciation of dream nuances;
understanding of the body-mind boundaries; intentional dreaming; guidance, and
empathy -- are connected to the notion of emotional and spiritual intelligence. The
author postulates that, over time, the sustained practice of dreamwork leads to the
development these skills and helps adult dreamers find creative ways to relate to them
intelligibly.
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Introduction and context

At the end of a group session I was leading on dream appreciation, a dreamer once told
me that sharing her dream and working on it in depth felt "very sacred". Her dream did
not involve any explicit religious or spiritual features, nor was the intent of the group to
enhance spiritual awareness, yet the moment of intimacy she experienced felt like a
spiritual opening. After many years of hearing testimonies such as these, I started to
sense that psychological work related to dreams is often connected to something deeply
spiritual. I started to develop the notion that dreamwork1 is connected to the
development of spiritual and emotional intelligence. When people work with dreams in
a sustained manner over time, they develop certain skills that foster psychological and
spiritual insight.

What do I mean by “spiritualʼ in the context of dreamwork? Lipsey (1988) states my

feelings well: the spiritual…
" is an incursion from above or deep within to which the ordinary human being
can only surrender ... It needn't be called 'the spiritual' but words of some kind
will be found to describe an intelligence, a vitality, a sense a deliverance from
pettiness and arrival at dignity that always seems a gift. It includes a perception
of grandeur in the world at large, which cannot help but strike us as sacred, quite
beyond oneself and yet there to be witnessed and even shared in"

The idea that we can develop “dream skills” is based on my work as teacher in a
graduate psychology program (East-West Psychology) with a strong emphasis on
consciousness studies. In the many classes and groups I facilitated, I have observed

1 The word 'dreamwork' is used here in the sense of conscious engagement with dream contents
before, during or after recalling a dream. This is in contrast to the psychoanalytic use of the same
word to refer to the mechanisms at play during dream formation (displacement, condensation,
reversal, etc.) as proposed by Freud (1953).

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noticeable differences in how people contribute to dream group, an activity that implies
sharing personal feelings and deciphering the meaning of dream images. Often, people
with dreamwork experience approach dreams in ways that inexperienced persons do
not. I link the improvement of dream-related skills to life-long learning and the
development of certain capacities.

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As conscious beings, humans are purposive and seek to actualize and realize
themselves in relationships with their fellow beings. We often refer to this purposive
being as self2. Within the understanding of self as a process finding expression in an
"autopoietic" or self -generating manner (Arden, 1996), dreams are intimately related to
the unfolding of the self. Dreams are a natural, adaptive and possibly transformative
process. At the core of an hermeneutic of discovery (an approach to interpretation, that,
in contrast to an hermeneutic of suspicion, takes dreams at face value and plays down
the idea that they are the result of a defensive censoring mechanism), dreams are
viewed as directly expressing emotionally laden situations, current concerns and even
as introducing elements of creative problem solving. In dream groups, a dreamer's
natural ability to work non-defensively with dream images is affirmed and a supportive
context is provided. Knowledge derives from dreamwork because of the dreams' poetic
(in the root sense of creative) capacity to reveal something about self, about the
relationship between self and world, or about the relationship between self and its
transcendent core.

Dreams and Life-Long Development

Theories have been proposed by Piaget (1962) and Foulkes (1985) about the way
children and adolescents dream and how they relate to their dreams.3 For example, in
a longitudinal study, Foulkes (1985) describes how children's dreams progressively
increase in complexity and emotional texture with age. His study shows how advances
in dream complexity foreshadow cognitive and social development in children, and
emotional intelligence in particular. Children with the most complex dream stories in
their age group were more likely to have better cognitive aptitude and to demonstrate
better emotional/interpersonal skills.

Very few authors however discuss developmental changes taking place between
childhood/adolescence and adulthood or discuss changes occurring during adulthood.
Watkins (1986) argues that more attention needs to be given to study the link between
early and later phases in the development of dream skills and other imaginal capacities.
Many questions are still unanswered about adult development of dream skills. How do
people develop their imaginal capacities as adults? How do certain individuals choose
dreams as their main way of accessing and unfolding spiritual intelligence?

2 With its emphasis on nouns, the English language innocently leads us to think of self as an
entity, i.e. ʻthe selfʼ, whereas it is more appropriate to view self as a complex dynamic interplay of
several nested capacities such as consciousness, proprioception (our bodily felt sense) and
knowing; self-awareness and will; and the capacity for interority and empathy. In this view self is
like more an event than an object.
3 Infants proportionally display longer periods of REM sleep than do adults, leading researchers
to postulate that REM may be related to implicit (or unconscious) consolidation of learning. There
is a debate as to whether very young infants really 'dream' since they may lack the cognitive
apparatus to do so (and, like non-human animals, do not have the linguistic means to convey
their inner life).

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Education about dreams is more likely than not a matter of chance: a sympathetic
parent or teacher might encourage and teach about the value of paying attention to
dreams. For many, skills related to dreams may become arrested because knowledge
about dreams is generally not taken as seriously in Western cultures as it is in non-
Western cultures (Tedlock, 1992). As a result, despite the fact that dreams have been
used in therapeutic settings for more than a hundred years (Piotrowsky and Biele, 1986,
1985), relatively little is known about the way ordinary people both find and maintain
interest in dreams once they reach adulthood, or how dreams affect their lives
spiritually.

A way to address this lack is to link the notion of imaginal skills to the concept of
multiple intelligences (Gardner 1993) and that of spiritual intelligence (Noble 2000).
Gardner has identified a spectrum of specific abilities (verbal, logical-mathematical,
musical, spatial, emotional, kinesthetic, naturalistic) beyond the standard definition of
intelligence. Recently, emotional intelligence (the ability to recognize the feelings and
emotions of others, and the ability to analyze one's own feelings to guide one's actions)
has gained wide recognition through the work of Goleman (1995). It has provided the
framework for numerous interventions in educational and corporate settings, in
particular ones, which foster greater self-monitoring (intrasubjective skills), emotional
literacy (the naming and verbalizing emotions) and intersubjective skills and empathy.

Compared to the concepts of multiple and emotional intelligence, the notion of spiritual
intelligence is more recent. Since the Age of Enlightenment, the development of
spiritual abilities has been relegated and understood almost exclusively within the
bounds of contemplative or religious practices. Within psychology, the notion of a
spiritual intelligence is just coming into view. Gardner (1998) has recently hinted at a
ninth form of intelligence4, calling it “existential intelligence”, and referring to the ability to
understand and reflect on the fundamental questions of life. Coles (1997) speaks of a
"moral intelligence" developing throughout childhood. Maslow (1968) has hinted at
spiritual intelligence when he coined the term "Being cognition" as a particular
orientation in the thinking pattern of a person, which includes ultimate values.

Spiritual intelligence is also related to the ability to absorb information, to learn and to
cope, to understand and deal with new situations and to the ability to apply knowledge
in making choice or in thinking abstractly (essential to the development of dream skills).
It is however concerned with distinctive dimensions of thinking, being, affect and action,
such as those that lead to greater authenticity, openness, compassion, truthfulness, and
the exploration of ultimate values. One could argue that spiritual intelligence may serve
to integrate other forms of intelligence or, at least, to situate the use of intelligence in a
wider context. The development of such capacities takes place over the entire life

4For Gardner (1998), the status of 'intelligence' has not been completely established since,
according to his own criteria, we will need to identify specific neuronal centers associated with it
have been identified.

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span5, and as Jung (1961) and Washburn (1988) have both pointed out, it takes on a
special significance at or around middle age. At this time proposes Jung (1974); one is
confronted not only with the personal concerns, but also a deeper level, connected to a
“collective unconscious”:

“The ʻbigʼ or ʻmeaningfulʼ dreams come from this deeper level… [W]e are dealing
with a collective emotion, a typical situation full of affect, which is not primarily a
personal experience…it is a universally human problem which, because it has
been overlooked subjectively, forces itself objectively upon the dreamerʼs
consciousness” (p.77-78).

Wahsburnʼs (1998) ʻdynamic-dialectical paradigmʼ of the unfolding self presents middle

age as the stage in life when integration begins to take place between the mental ego
and a repressed non-egoic Ground. Following moments of “regression at the service of
transcendence”, and a “regeneration in spirit”, integration is the “complete actualization
of our originally given nature.” The mature ego goes beyond it individualized but
disconnected stage to enter a “fully-individuated vehicle-agent of the Ground”. At this
stage, the two poles of the psyche (the non-egoic, physico-dynamic pole and the egoic
mental pole) are mutually supportive and facilitative of each other (perception and
conceptualization; auto-symbolic activity and discursive cognition, body and mind, etc.)

Spiritual intelligence thus includes formal rationality as described by Piaget (1962) but
also transcends the merely rational (Wilber, 1995). One does not work through a
psychological crisis in mid-life the same tool, as one would resolve a logical problem.
The form of self-inquiry that takes place at that time cannot be exclusively confined
within a rational linguistic framework. Such inquiry often relates to experiences
individuals undergo either spontaneously (such as a ʻbigʼ or ʻmeaningfulʼ dream) or as a
result of meditation and contemplation (Rothberg, 1996). This in turn underscores the
importance of what is known as “other ways of knowing”, and the attainment of a level of
meaning often metaphorically referred to as a “knowledge of the heart.” Dreams, as
largely non-linguistic, non-rational phenomena, provide a medium particularly well suited
not only for psychological exploration but spiritual actualization as well.

Over time, the sustained practice of dreamwork leads to the development the following
skills (of course predicated on that essential skill, or discipline, of dream recall):
1- improved metaphoric and imagistic thinking;
2- increased appreciation of the nuances of dream life and variety of dreams;
3- increased openness to the creative potential of the mind and development of
an understanding of intentional work with dreams;
4- better understanding of the fluid boundaries between body and mind;
5- increased ability to apply guidance from dream;

5 Jung points out that ʻbigʼ or archetypal dreams occur “during the critical phases of life, in early
youth, puberty, at the onset of middle age, and within sight of death.” These dreams provide
opportunity to

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 6- increased empathy towards others.

1- Improved Metaphoric and Imagistic Thinking.

Dreamwork enables refinement and sophistication in metaphoric thinking, i.e., the ability
to recognize and understand one thing "through" another. Lakoff (1987) has
demonstrated how ordinary language is replete with metaphors and how we develop
basic skills to discern metaphorical figures of speech without having to pay conscious
attention to them. Dreamwork however adds new complexity to the task of metaphorical
understanding, and dreamwork requires conscious metaphorical mapping:

a) At the beginning of dreamwork, the dreamer is often faced with the problem of
identifying relevant metaphorical referents. Each dream image may be
connected to many metaphorical referents, some of which are "transparent" and
some of which are only known to the dreamer. Refinement in metaphorical skills
allows a dreamer to develop the ability to unfold metaphorical nuances from
dream images and to verbalize complex connections between dreaming and
waking life. I previously referred to this skill as “dream metaphorical mapping”
(Baylor and Deslauriers 1987).

b) Unlike linguistic metaphors, often encountered one at a time, dreams are

composed of numerous images woven into story form, opening to a vast array of
metaphorical connections. To understand dream metaphors means to establish
connections between at least two sources of experience -the images of the
dreams and the dreamer's waking context- and to map similarities between the
two. Whether or not dreamwork leads to insight often follows from the ability to
identify and speak about life events in the light of dream images. However, it is
not always obvious how the highly visual and concrete dream images connect
with a waking context that is brimming with fuzzy somatic felt sense. When given
the opportunity to elaborate on these felt senses in the light of a dream, dreamers
often identify such work as "deep" or "powerful". It is as if the act of making
meaning afforded by the dream gives more depth to waking life experience.

A dream may relate to a distant event or a recent occurrence, a bodily symptom, a

spiritual matter or a current concern. The art of dream interpretation is aided by holding
in mind the question: what am I learning from this dream? Dream understanding
requires "orchestration" of multiple strands of thought and multiple comparisons drawn
across numerous domains of experiences. One may make multiple connections in a
short period of time. Because it is imbued with shifting nuances, the meaning making of
dreamwork is an ever-unfolding process that defies the mind's tendency to affix
meaning in a permanent way. Moreover, dreamwork enables a dialogue to take place
between aspects of us that are symbolized or brought to light through dream images.
This in turn opens the possibility of differentiating the manifold perspectives or points of
view that co-habit within the self.

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Dreamwork is not only a cognitive process, but closely relates to our emotional
landscape. It connects to emotional intelligence in four major ways.

1- Emotions serve as bridges between the dream and the waking life context.
Dreamwork often follows the emotional cues given by the dream encapsulated in
the following question: "Where in waking life is the dream emotion played out"?
Dreams help to identify the emotional tenor associated with a particular situation.

2- Dream understanding is anchored within the dreamer's felt sense that a

particular interpretation, or a particular metaphorical connection, "fits". This is a
more complex event than how it is usually portrayed (e.g., as a simple ʻah-ahʼ
experience). In particular, the feeling of “fit” is often accompanied by a subtle
emotional release. It could be a feeling of joy of discovery, or the feeling
associated with reconnecting with a fragmented part of the self, as if assenting to
a part of the dream enables the dreamer to settle in a precious moment of self-
acceptance. In the later case, may lead he dreamer to want to know more about
this particular uncovered aspect. Than dreamwork fosters self-acceptance is
linked to the value of authenticity within the work of self-integration.

3- Dreams provide a safe medium for self-disclosure. In some educational

setting, I have found that one can speak about oneself through one's dreams
more easily if asked to speak about oneself directly (even more than one knows
sometimes!) Dreamwork can foster the development of intimacy and of imagistic
vocabulary for expressing emotional concerns.

4- Related to the previous point, sharing dreams can facilitate the development of
empathy. One comes to recognize similarities between one's core life issues and
those of others. Dreamwork can extend the range and depth of connection we
can establish with others, in a relatively short time frame. I will address this
dimension below as a specific dream-related skill.

Dreams relate to spiritual intelligence in many ways as well. By "speaking through"

images, dreams aptly express the nuances of spiritual concerns. Symbols from dreams
can "open up dimensions of experience that would otherwise remain closed or hidden or
that humans cannot reach through more rational means. Symbolic images express
important meanings that are crucial to the development of self-consciousness" (Bulkily,
1994). One can even enter in a more active relationship with oneʼs dream life by using
the technique of dream incubation whereby a conscious intention is put forth by the
dreamer before going to bed. In a dream incubation study (Bogzaran, 1990) dreamers
were asked to call forth the presence of the Divine in lucid dreams. Some participants
experienced a personalized Being in their dreams while others experienced "body
sensations, geometric forms, colors, mandalas and light" that they associated with the
Divine. While the study suggests that personal beliefs influence the experience of the
divine in dreams, most participants found the task profoundly engaging and revealing.

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When incubating the Divine, dreamers found themselves confronted with important
existential questions in their dreams. In a second incubation study (Bogzaran and
Deslauriers, 1995), non-lucid dreamers were asked to report their spiritual experience.
The following dream is from a participant for whom the experience of formulating
incubation was at first "confusing": "First I had to define 'Divine' and this was difficult
since I do not believe in God or an organizing principle of the universe. It made me
question whether I could actually experience something I didn't believe in or at least was
unsure of. I felt some tension about participating in a project that I presumed was about
something I didn't think existed."

This self-questioning is evident in her subsequent dream:

I am a triangle. Actually, I am an abstraction and my form, although I didn't really
have a form, is a triangle (this is difficult to explain). Within the triangle are separate
abstractions which could be called round and which move or bubble independently
but could be said to move collectively. I am aware of my imperfection as I look at
this essence of myself.

Suddenly my thinking changes; it is as if I have clicked into a different channel or

flipped over into a different mode of perception. I realize, without a doubt, my
perfection ("Perfection" isn't the right word, it is more of a sense of peace, utter calm
and tranquility). The interior, round parts stop " bubbling" and calmness pervades
me, everything is smooth without distinction."

She adds: "I know this doesn't deal directly with the Divine as I learned
about it but one of my problems with this task has been a personal definition of
' Divine.' I don't think of it as an entity or energy outside myself... nor as a presence
with intention or guidance. I would define 'Divine ' as I have experienced it in this
dream: utter tranquility no dichotomies, complete calm and serenity."

This dream is especially poignant because the dreamer previously had serious doubts
about the goal of the research. The incubation task sent her on a quest only to portray
an exquisite creative response in her dream. In the word of the dreamer, there is no
explicit reference to or vision of "Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or any other deities."
Nevertheless, the dream had the effect of clarifying her understanding of the Divine. A
paradoxical thought lingers to her after the dream: "Perhaps the Divine is experiencing
nothing and everything."

For Browning (1987) "when it comes to speaking about the most ultimate (in the sense
of the most determinative aspect of our experience), we do it in a metaphorical
language...The metaphors we use to represent the ultimate context of experience
function to orient us toward that context, form our expectations, teach us to see the
world in a certain way, and give us the basic vision by which we live" (p. 58).
Furthermore, as Goleman argues, the emotional mind is associative; " [t]his is why
similes, metaphors, and images speak directly to the emotional mind... Religious symbol

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and ritual make little sense from the rational point of view: it is couched in the vernacular
of the heart" (p.294). When we apply the context of ultimate concerns to dreamwork,
we are invoking the metaphoric and evocative potential towards understanding the
spiritual dimension (Bulkeley, 1995).

2-Increased Appreciation of the Nuances of Dream Life and Different Types of

Dreams

The second set of skills people develop in tending their dreams over time is a sensitivity
to the nuances of their dream life and appreciation of the multiplicity of dreams.
Dreamers come to know that dreams, like waking thoughts, are infinitely varied. Just as
each person has a unique sleep signature, fluctuating night after night, dreams too
cannot be described in a unitary way as if they were of the same kind (Hunt, 1989).
Over time, people learn to recognize of the various kinds of dreams they have and many
even develop original ways to categorize them. Experienced dreamers develop a sense
of the kind of dreams they typically have and of those that are possible to achieve.

Both vernacular and scholarly dream typologies abound in the literature (see Van de
Castle, 1994 for an historical review). Here is a list of the most common dimensions
upon which dream typologies are formed: a continuum of mundane to archetypal
dreams; a continuum of pleasant to unpleasant dreams (e.g., good dreams vs.
nightmares); a continuum of "past" "present" "future" dreams (respectively dreams about
unfinished business or past traumas, dreams about emotional integration, and
prospective/ precognitive dreams); a continuum of "body" "psyche" and "spirit" (dreams
respectively concerned with body function, psychological well-being, and experience of
transpersonal or spiritual nature e.g., dreams of visitation by the deceased or by a
spiritual teacher); and finally a continuum of lucidity (awareness that one is currently
dreaming and can exercise control over one's dreams). There exist also a series of
extraordinary dream experiences such as dream within dream and false awakening and
so-called mutual dreams.

In their research on impactful dream, Kuiken and Sikora, (1991) point out to a particular
type of dreams that seems to foster a connection with spiritual concerns. Such
experiences make one aware of one's assumptions about the nature of reality and may
lead dreamers to question what they know and how they know it. These dreams may
expand the boundaries of self-understanding. Shortly after the birth of his first son, a
colleague received a letter from a friend asking him when his child was born and how
the delivery went. It also contained a detailed dream. With uncanny precision, this
dream metaphorically portrayed a difficult delivery (which was indeed the case) and was
dated the day of the birth. This event propelled him to make a career change and to
make dreams the focus of his psychological research. Dreams such as these also alter
the common understanding of dreams as being almost exclusively self-referential.

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3- Increased openness to the Creative Potential of the Mind and Development of
an Understanding of Intentional Dreaming
Dreamwork is fueled by conscious intent and focuses a dreamer's attention to the
unfolding meanings of his or her dreams. To reflect on a dream can be construed as a
prototypical act of self-reflectiveness. "The phenomenon of dreaming is 'located' in the
interval which extends between 'I' and 'me', between the subject and the object of self-
reflexivity" (Kugler, 1988, p. 1). In my opinion an integral approach to dreamwork takes
into consideration that this can take place at before, during or after the dream. Most
likely self-reflection occurs after the dream, such as during dream interpretation or in a
dream group. It can however occur before the dream such as in dream incubation
(Meier, 1966) or even during the dream itself as in lucid dreaming. Lucid dreams are
dreams within which the dreamer is aware that he or she is dreaming. As a result of
dream lucidity, a dreamer might display similar self-reflective capacities as in waking
(Laberge, 1985). The cultivation of awareness within dreams can be a very powerful
means of understanding the creative dynamics of the self and their creative role in the
perception of the world. It also can open up the active exploration of imaginal and
spiritual worlds in the dream states (Bogzaran, 1990; 1994).

Whether spontaneous or induced, dream lucidity is associated with an heightened

capacity of self-remembering, i.e., a movement of awareness away from a natural (but
most likely mindless) absorption and towards a witnessing stance. This is one reason
why the cultivation of lucidity in dreaming is closely related to the practice of meditation.
Taking on an observer stance within a dream prevents the self from automatically
identifying with a specific emotion (in particular negative emotions) or a particular role
(such as the victim role in nightmare). With the knowledge that one is now within the
safe bounds of a dream experience, emotions such as fear and anxiety can be diffused
or transformed. Usually the dream's on-going images provide immediate feedback to
these internal changes: when the emotional state changes, the dream's imaginal
content changes accordingly. For instance, what was once a fearful image often
transforms into a neutral or positive image as the emotional state shift.

Here's an example from my own dream journal: I am dreaming that I am a guest at a

sweat lodge ritual and I am sitting there as a participant. I suddenly become lucid when
I realize that I am undressing for a second time, moments after having it done once.
Realizing that this is a dream, I concentrate on what I would like to do. My focus of is
not longer directed to the ritual; rather I ask myself 'what do I most like to do in dreams?
The first thing that comes to mind is flying. Suddenly I see a little window on the wall.
Next I am taking off through this small window and starting a dream flight...

In this dream, self-reflectiveness momentarily takes precedence over the unfolding

dream plot. The experience of lucidity elicited a movement towards exploration of my
own possibilities (later I realized that this was at the expense of interacting with the
possibilities offered within the dream itself). It is noteworthy that the thought of flying
was immediately followed by the appearance of an image (a small window), which

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presents an enabling manifestation of this thought. The image was, so to speak, a
direct reflection of this desire to fly.

From the point of view of creative auto-poiesis (self-generative thought), we see a

weakening of the boundaries between what is a seen as "self" and what is seen as "not-
self" within the dream environment. The strong distinction between what is imagined to
be "inner" as opposed to what is imagined to be "outer" becomes attenuated. It is not
so much that the "I " becomes part of the field, but that the dream environment is
recognized for its self-mirroring effects by the dreaming "I". For example, in interacting
with dream images, we are, so to speak, reminded of our existential predicament and
challenged to wake up to the fact that this predicament is in the dream, and is self-
created. This in turn opens up new possibilities of emotional self-monitoring to effect
corrective action within the dream if we choose to do so. Another possibility is to
explore with full awareness alternative ways to exist or act within a dream. This can
take the form of self-control, (or self-change), instrumental control, (or control of the
dream environment), or simply letting the dream continue with a heightened sense of
awareness on the part of the observer.

Gackenbach (1991) postulates that, in term of Piagetian stages, lucidity in dreams

corresponds to post-formal operation and post-representational stages of development.
Such a model emphasizes a de-embedding of the self from the representational level of
the mind that she calls witnessing sleep.
"A fuller awareness may emerge such that the observer may recognize that
the self as dreamer can either continue to actively participate or manipulate the
dream world or 'step back' in a quite separate fashion. This receptive stance is
a witnessing form of consciousness in which awareness itself become the
dominant feature and consequently, the emotionally impactful quality of the
dream fades" p. 118.

This passage points out to the fact that development of dream skills is not confined to
dream interpretation but also can include the cultivation of awareness in the dream state
itself. Dreaming becomes an evolutionary activity suggesting that self-cultivation can be
undertaken for the benefit of the self or for that of the species as a whole.

4- Better Understanding of the fluid boundaries between body and mind.

Dreams have a strong link with proprioception, both at the formative level and during
interpretation. This means that dreams may be a means by which bodily processes or
symptoms reach awareness (Garfield, 1991). Working with dreams can become a way
to approach the symbolic and meaningful aspect of our body-mind continuum.

The relationship between dream and proprioception also finds expression as the
dreamer, with or without conscious awareness, uses bodily felt-sense during dreamwork
(Gendlin, 1986). As is well known in the fields of somatics and biofeedback, the body is
one of primary means of accessing psychological material as exemplified by the

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intimate link between breathing or heart rhythm and particular emotional states. This
skill thus is constellated within a somatic orientation to dreamwork and it integrates
dreamwork with kinesthetic and somatic intelligence. As a mode of working with
dreams, I use a method called the dream body map in which dreamers are asked to
make the connection between their bodily experiences and the images from their
dreams, through imagery and drawing. The exercise serves to enhance body
consciousness and the connection between the "imaginal self" and the "bodily self".
Breakthrough in understanding occurs when dreamers realize that areas of
psychological constriction are closely related to areas of physiological tension or
somatic symptoms. Vice versa, the psychological understanding of bodily symptoms
through dream work often give the chance to the dreamer to ascribe meaning to what
was previously experienced as senseless symptoms.

5 - Increased Ability To Apply Guidance From Dreams;

The ability to find guidance in dreams comes easily for those who learn to
connect their inner life with their "outer" life. Dream understanding often calls for
some transformative action. This may be as simple as preparing oneself for
some future situation following an examination dream, (a frequent dream motif).
Or it could involve important life decisions such as choosing a career (Bulkeley,
1994, discussed an important personal dreams that lead him to choose his
academic major). A person might have new thoughts following a dream; often
people says that they may not have "put it quite that way" before reflecting on a
dream. This shows that insights follow from dreamwork. In her work with
divorcees, Cartwright (1986) has shown that working with dreams may help
people identify potentially destructive patterns and give the dreamer a handle on
how to attend to them.

When unfinished business suddenly come to awareness as a result of

dreamwork, a dreamer can derive a clear sense of what action needs to be taken
or what general direction in life needs to be pursued. It is not so much that
dreams give clear answers as to what to do, rather they provide avenues to
identify adaptive or negative patterns of behaviors and to explore feelings related
to important choices through metaphorical mapping. Kuiken and Sikora, 1994
have shown that impactful or extraordinary dreams can prompt reevaluation of
one's priorities.

While the work of imagination necessitates the ability to be open and receptive (a
characteristic of dreams is their spontaneous occurrence), it also requires the
ability to ponder and to use proper discernment. The link between dreams and
action has been viewed with ambivalence by most secular modern thinkers and
by organized religions alike. Rationality and reasonableness are favored as
means to express motives and to justify actions even though they rarely
completely account for the felt meaning that accompanies many of our most
important choices. However, when the right context of intimacy is created, such

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as that found in psychotherapy, it is not rare to hear people claim that they have
taken important life-changing steps based on dreams. This finds echo in many
traditional cultures where important actions are not undertaken unless some
confirmation has been given through a dream.

Furthermore, many people report that dreams provide them with intimations of
future events. These can be experienced either as precognition6 or as active
anticipation; as a result questions often arise as to whether one should act on
one's dream to change a future outcome, as if dreams are giving warnings, or
else, make the dream a reality as in the case of positive anticipatory dreams.

At times no action is suggested by dreamwork. However, a dream may provide a form

of guiding vision or a powerful image whose recurrence over time has a sustained
impact. One only needs to be remembered of a dream image and an entire gestalt of
meaning emerges. In a more diffuse way, guidance may be more implicit than explicit:
the dream can bring up a new perspective that will affect a dreamer's perceptions
throughout an indefinite period. This can range from few hours to an entire lifetime for
big dreams, as if life itself were filtered through the dream7.

6-Increased Empathy Towards Others

Dreamwork has been used in many settings: schools, prisons, churches, seniors
homes and in the corporate environment. It can offer enjoyable and positive avenues
for self-exploration and self-expression. When done in group settings, dreamwork
fosters the development of empathy towards other dreamers. Dreamwork is a natural
and relatively safe way to share one's life predicament and to empathize with others by
participating in their self-exploration process.

Ullman's designed a set of principles for dreamwork in groups, predicated on taking on

someone's dream as if it were one's own (Ullman and Zimmerman, 1979). This is
closely matched the natural unfolding of empathy while allowing the group member to
share their own feelings about a dreams in way that the dreamer can either accept or
reject. When group members are authentic in their own sharing, empathy flowed in both
directions between the group and the dreamer. The dream becomes the occasion for
all group members to see themselves through its images. Issues of relating to our
shared humanity (loneliness, fears and hopes, psychological wounds, feeling of
inadequacies and dysfunctional patterns) easily surface during dream groups as well
and the dreamer is encourage to meet them openly with the support of the group.

Ethical considerations
Integration of the various dimensions of the self is a central task for maturing adults and
we have seen that dreams can present valuable information addressing the state of

6We do not have totally satisfactory psychological model to account for such occurrence. The
most plausible models borrow from principles of non-locality put forward by quantum mechanic.

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psychological balance between different aspects of the self. Important questions
however are raised by linking dreams to spiritual development; for instance, does
learning to work with dreams makes one a better person? What demarcates excessive
self-centeredness from the healthy pursuit of self-integration? Since dreamwork puts a
strong emphasis on self-reflectiveness, how do the skills mentioned above provide
safeguards against narcissistic tendencies? Moreover, given that particular course of
action can be taken from dreams, similar ethical consideration needs to be give to these
action even if they "come from our dreams". What principles are there to balance self-
interest with the common good? Such concerns point out the ethical dimensions of
dreamwork in general. My personal experience led me to believe that the group or the
therapist can serve an important role in the case where ethical questions stemming from
dream work are raised. Moreover, future studies might shed light on how dream related
work could foster ethical behavior and life affirming actions.

Conclusion
Dreams can play an important role in self-actualization because they present privileged
material that may spark insights about spiritual dimensions. They have often been
understood as a way of knowing because they present an enactive context where a
world is not just "represented" but rather they are an occasion for experience. In this
article I emphasized the development of dream-related skills that result from engaging in
dream work for extended period of time. These skills help dreamers integrate complex
emotional material and derive insights and self-knowledge. Also a sense of openness
may develop regarding the possibility that dreams might present, in imagistic form,
information that complements waking thought. Jung (1974) termed the “transcendent
function" the spontaneous ability of the psyche to produce symbols signifying the
emergence of figurative resolutions, which transcend the ability of conscious thinking to
achieve. This can give one's current waking existence a sense of depth.

Dream related skills-- metaphoric and imagistic thinking; appreciation of dream

nuances; understanding of the body-mind boundaries; intentional dreaming; guidance,
and empathy -- are learnable. The developments of these skills helps dreamers find
creative ways to address dreams' puzzling nature or, at least, relate to them more
intelligibly. Moreover, by cultivating a relationship with their dreams and that of others,
dreamers have numerous occasions to deepen important questions regarding the
ultimate nature of life, and to find guidance in how to live an ethically fulfilling life. By
affirming that dreamwork involves important cognitive, emotional and spiritual skills may
help pave the way for further research in how dreams and dreamwork intersect with
psychological and spiritual life-span development.
_____________
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Transdisciplinary Approach. Madison, Ct: Psychosocial Press.

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 Baylor, G.W. & Deslauriers, D. (1987). Understanding dreams, Method, maps
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