I have always felt dream work is profound.  For many years I have worked with dreams interpretatively to help my patients become more aware of their concerns and conflicts and work through them.  Dream images are part of our early memory system.  Access to this can help us become more aware, more self-reflective and more able to change.

Currently I am completing a three-year intensive training program in a new kind of dream work technique called Embodied Imagination.  In this method, the therapist helps the patient “enter” the dream.  The therapist guides the patient to embody, that is feel in her body, several key images in the dream.  I choose one image that is familiar to the dreamer, that is, her usual way of seeing the world, and then several other images not from her usual perspective.  The “otherness “ is important as entering them can give the dreamer a new perspective and increase empathy.  Then the dreamer is helped to put the several images into a composite, which she practices to help establish new pathways and new perspectives

I have found this technique facilitates creativity and helps patients break through barriers and blocks they feel within themselves.

I also offer a short-term therapy with this technique called Brief Depth Therapy. If a patient has a specific and urgent problem she would like to work on, I can help the patient incubate dreams on this problem.  This therapy lasts for approximately 10 sessions.  I have had significant success using this approach.