Working with Dreams: Contact with the Unthought Known.

Everyone dreams; Freud described the dream as the royal road to the unconscious. It is certainly the case that extraordinary progress can be made for clients when exploring dreams. However, placing too much onus on the analyst’s interpretations is usually counterproductive and in many ways a reinforcement of infant/parent transference. 

Object relations suggests that all aspects of the dream are an element of the dreamer, therefore finding a way to enable the dreamer to find their own interpretation through experimentation and interaction between objects will give the client a greater sense of clarity and contact with self. 

This training is suitable for any qualified counsellor or psychotherapist, or student counsellor who has completed or working at level 4, with an interest in dreams, object relations and dreamwork. 

it is intended that after this 2-day course you will have enough knowledge, confidence and skills to begin working with dreams in your own practice.  For more experienced practitioners this is an opportunity to develop and hone existing skills whilst adding to your theoretical knowledge base. 

Day 1: (6 hours) 

•  An introduction to dreams and working with dreams as object relations and object transformations within the psyche. 
• Understanding situational (memory recalled via cues) and procedural memory (knowing how to do things): training for therapists to remember every aspect of the client’s dream; this includes situational memory and memory recall development tools. 
• Testing the water: active listening, excitement and interest, an experiment in capturing another’s dream state.
• Process analysis: demonstration of dream work and an analysis of methodology. 

Day 2: (6 hours)  

• Working with traumatic elements in the dreamscape. 
• Nightmare and night terrors. An introduction to generalised sleep disorders
• Practice: each participant will have an opportunity to work with another’s dream with trainer-led 360 degree feedback and discussion. 

Steven Eserin is a Gestalt psychotherapist, trainer and author in the modalities of Gestalt and existential psychotherapy. A counsellor since 1994 and practising psychotherapist since 2000, Steven has worked with dreams and nightmares from the outset. With more than 20 years’ experience spanning hundreds of dreams.