Transformation of a Nightmare

A sneak preview of important new material my clinical dream book’s just-released second edition. More info, discount code

What is split off, not felt, remains the same. When it is felt, it changes. – Eugene Gendlin

To celebrate the publication of the second edition of my book, A Clinician’s Guide to Dream Therapy, I am sharing a summary of one of the new chapters on nightmare treatment. It includes a complete transcript of a transformative session. In our experiential way of reliving an intense dream, and inviting the dreamer to feel into all the helpful elements we find along the way, the dream itself spontaneously changes… as you will see… (More info & discount code here.)

To understand exactly what Gendlin means, here is an excerpt from the new chapter on nightmare treatment: “Dreams often bring forward what we have been avoiding or repressing. In working with those suffering from nightmares, we explore their dreams both with curiosity and the goal of bolstering them to face what they may have been avoiding. As Focusing founder Eugene Gendlin (1986) said, what is felt, changes. ‘If there is in you something bad or sick or unsound, let it inwardly be and breathe. That's the only way it can evolve and change into the form it needs.’ What is not experienced directly remains static and frozen, and the unprocessed trauma finds a way to repeat – in dreams, symptoms, and patterns. In the example in this chapter, there is an alarming crux point at the very end of the dream…. By the end of the session, you will see that because the dreamer is so well supported, the experience of the nightmare changes spontaneously and dramatically.”

Dream session example: Saving the baby dream

Carol (not her real name) is a dreamworker and therapist who attended my year-long dreamwork training program and generously offered to share this dream session that took place in class. She dreamt she was carrying a brand new baby and was excitedly telling her mother that she will name her after her grandmothers. Her mother is delighted, but then alerts Carol to the fact that the baby isn’t breathing…