DREAM INTERPRETATION

Dream Interpretation and the History of Dreams: A Developmental Counseling and Therapy Approach

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Acknowledgement

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Abstract

In counseling sessions, clients often present dreams as material to use in making meaning of their experiences Mental health counselors may advantage from using Ivey's Developmental Counseling and Therapy (DCT) approach to assist client's process dreams, thereby promoting insight and change. A case demonstration illustrates the use of DCT in dream analysis.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION6

Background of the Research6

Research Aims & Objectives7

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW8

Theoretical framework8

Dreams as a Tool in Mental Health Counseling11

Developmental Counseling and Therapy: A Useful Model For Understanding Dreams13

CHAPTER 3:PROPOSED METHODOLOGY16

Research Design16

Literature Search16

Sensorimotor Style16

Concrete-operational Style18

Formal-operational Style19

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS22

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION28

Applying Developmental Counseling Therapy To Dream Interpretation: Specific Strategies And Case Illustration29

Description of Client30

CHAPTER 6: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION32

REFERENCES33

BIBLIOGRAPHY37

Chapter 1: Introduction

Background of the Research

Dreams have fascinated people since ancient times. The Mesopotamians, Hebrews, Babylonians, Chinese, Greeks, and Romans all valued dream interpretation and early psychologists wrote of the worth of dream interpretation in spurring client insight. In detail, Freud stated that the interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind" and Jung examined dreams as being a source of personal knowledge and guidance. Despite the attention granted to dream interpretation by these and other theorists, and the fascination with dreams by people in a variety of cultures and times, only 10 to 15% of mental health professionals work with dreams. In our work with diverse clients, we have found that integrating dream interpretation into counseling can encourage client development, understanding, and self-efficacy. Other mental health professionals have reported alike findings. For example, Diemer, Lobell, Vivino, and Hill (1996) goofed that use of dream interpretation in even the beginning sessions of brief counseling can lead clients to explore deeper issues than would be normal for early sessions. Provost (1999) and Berube (1999) both described the value of dream exploration in counseling groups, and Provost noted that such exploration helped to encourage client disclosure and exploration and that clients may have felt less threatened than they normally might when self disclosing (Ivey, 2005, pp: 222).

We believe that mental health counselors (MHC) fail to use dreams in part due to lack of preparation and, therefore, lack knowledge of how to process dreams in a meaningful manner. In this research, a brief review of historical perspectives on dreams and dream interpretation provides a foundation for analyzing dreams as an integral part of counseling practice. Ivey's (2000) Developmental Counseling and Therapy (DCT) is described as a useful model for dream ...