DREAM READING
The dream reading process described by Gerald N. Epstein (Waking dream therapy: Dream process as imagination, 1981. New York: Human Sciences Press) is the phenomenological approach I use to guide people in unlocking the secrets of their dream life. Dream life is as much a true reality as waking existence. This approach to dream reading assigns few symbolic meanings to dream images, and you will note that we read dreams, rather than interpret them. We examine the concrete meaning of what appears in the dream. First, every aspect of the dream is a reflection of the dreamer and second, the dream is explored in terms of the people and objects as representing those people and objects. Although the dreamer is the final authority who assigns meaning to the dream, the therapist may offer a perspective as if it is his/her dream and, in addition, raises questions as well as insights for the dreamer to consider, Through a nonjudgmental attitude that establishes a healing environment of faith and trust, the therapist provides direction. Dreams are accepted as valid and important in their own right. They are real! Dreams permit the seeing of possibilities as well as revealing actions that can be used to create one’s existence through participating knowingly in change.
The dream operates according to its own laws which differ from ordinary clock time and physical space and tap into the invisible reality. Through sensory images, the dream establishes imagination as a vital link that can enrich one’s life in all its physical, emotional, and spiritual manifestations. The world of imaginative power is as real as the world of sensory perception or intellectual insight. A mental image is an actual entity. Imagination is not imaginary; on the contrary, it is entirely real.
The dream reveals its secrets about us in a language that is analogical, concrete, and nonlinear. It gives us access to information about ourselves as well as events and may suggest corrective actions we need to take. On the other hand, the dream may serve as a validation of one’s behavior.
In the dream the unity of people and their environment is clear as both are presented simultaneously. This mutual process, as indeed all life experiences are mutual processes, give us insight into the invisible, yet real, realm of existence, a realm where our life also takes place. It contains the potential for actions that help us fulfill our possibilities. We use the five senses to explore the imaginal realm just as we do in the material world. I view the dream world as connected with the spiritual realm, the nonmaterial world. We live in both these worlds and dream reading gives us access to understanding ourselves and our world of the spiritual realm of existence.
Did you know that you can not only see your world in a new way through your dreams, but you can repair them as well? Particularly, when you feel powerless during the dream, there is a way to enter the dream again, reverse the situation, and experience your power. This process needs to be individualized and experienced in the moment while guided by the Health Patterning psychotherapist.