Dream Work: An Existential-Humanistic Method to Deepen Connection to the Cosmological Dimension

Facilitated by Sonja Saltman, MS and Core EHI Instructor

When: September 28^th, 2024 @ 10am – 12pm PT 

Where: Online through Zoom 

Fee: $25 General/$10 Elders & Students

Continuing Education*:  This workshop has been approved for 2 CE credits for full, live participation. Additional CE Fee is $18.

Dreams represent a restatement of the client’s deeper problems, only in a different language—a language of visual imagery.  The agency of the mind turns feelings, attitudes, and experiences into visual form (e.g., a journey, a dilapidated house, descending into a basement, etc.). From an E-H perspective, the point is not to fully and accurately interpret the dream—it can’t be done, and misses the point. 

Just as we learn to work with clients’ processes in the here-and-now, E-H dream work involves bringing the dream into the here-and-now in order to find what is most alive, most curious, most baffling or disturbing to the client, and to facilitate an in vivo exploration – often leading to deeper contact with a less conscious part of oneself. 

Working with dreams from the Humanistic perspective (in this case, from the Gestalt perspective), the dreamer is helped to play out parts of her dream as aspects of her own existence, i.e. a working through of the dream as a present event rather than past history and as action rather than a basis for interpretation.  Attendees will receive a didactic introduction to dream work through a Gestalt/E-H lens, get to see 2 live demonstrations (and perhaps be one of the 2 volunteers), and engage in discussion about this approach to dream work.

Presentation Outline:

• Final Debrief/Q&A (25 mins)
• Welcome/Introduction (10 mins)
• Didactic Presentation (15 mins)
• First Dream Work Demonstration (25 mins)
• Debrief/Q&A (20 mins)
• Second Dream Work Demonstration (25 mins)

Additional info: Scott wrote an blog post on Dream Work from an E-H perspective on The Existential Moment, read Dream Work post here.

EHI endeavors to make offerings accessible for interested learners.  Please email or call Michelle via the contact page for disability accommodations and more course info.

LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCs: You too might be eligible for APA Continuing Education Credit for your renewals! 

State licensing boards for LPCs, LCSWs, and LMFT’s often accept CE credits from an APA Approved Provider for their continuing education requirements. Please check with your Board to ensure they accept CEs from an APA Approved Provider like Society for Humanistic Psychology. (CA BBS takes these CE credits).