Dream Work in Therapy: Facilitating Exploration, Insight, and Action

In Dream Work in Therapy, distinguished researchers and clinicians explore Clara Hill's cognitive-experiential model for working with dreams. Dreams are useful therapeutic tools because they help people circumvent their defenses to reach deeper levels of self-awareness. Developed over many years by Hill and her students, the approach integrates aspects from several existing dream theories, such as Freudian, Jungian, Gestalt, phenomenological, client-centered, and behavioral, to create a theoretically consistent, three-staged model. Working in collaboration with their clients (patients), therapists can help them explore their dreams, gain insight into the meaning of their dreams, and take action to resolve issues in their waking life. The book discusses the theoretical basis of the model and provides clear instructions for implementing it in practice. Through the use of valuable clinical examples, authors present extensions of the model in specific settings and populations, such as groups, men, the bereaved, and nightmare sufferers. Of particular interest to readers will be the last part of the book, which describes how to train therapists to use the model and provides a detailed review of the model's empirical research. This invaluable approach offers therapists and their clients a structured but flexible method for maximizing the therapeutic benefits of working with dreams.