Introducing the process and skills of projective Dream Work
Explore and understand the Insights, Wisdom, and Call To Action of dreams for your Life, Work, and Community
Projective Dream Work is one of many valid approaches to understanding the meaning of night-time dreams. Every night, we make movies in our heads. Every night, whether we remember or not, we make stories come alive in picture-form in our heads. These movies and stories in our heads are often weird, illogical, deeply embarrassing, scary, adventurous, fun, sensual, and profound. I have found that projective Dream Work is one of the most inviting, gentle, fun, non-judgmental, egalitarian (removing the false barrier between the Dreamer and the “expert”) approaches to exploring dreams. It is honoring of ancient and modern cultural beliefs about dreams. It draws from current psychological theories.
Projective Dream Work is open to spiritual/religious understandings. Projective Dream Work is, perhaps, most of all, in my opinion, deeply honoring of the Dreamer, her or himself, and of the community, nation, tribe, family, gathering in which the Dreamer lives. The intuitive insights of the Dreamer and her or his Community is priority. Projective Dream Work, perhaps most of all for the Dreamer, builds community and invites the dreamer and her/his community to integrate the insights, wisdom and healing into some form of change, response and action for the sake of the Dream and the Community.
Projective Dream Work is using a natural, built-in skill of what humans and perhaps all mammals, do…we project our inner thoughts, feelings, beliefs onto others and onto objects. We do this mostly unconsciously. We do this with our partners, mates, families, co-workers and clients (and clients and others project on us, too)! We do this to our leaders, our enemies, and our allies. We do this to God or to non-God. We project and the beginning of empathy for others is formed. We project and a pile of ugly rocks becomes a spiritual shrine, a holy, sacred place. We project and art emerges, the Mona Lisa appears. We project and Stephen King writes a new novel. We project and Stephen Spielberg creates a new movie! Projection is our instinct! We are blessed and cursed to always project. We are always more blessed if we increase our awareness of how, when, and where we project. We will, with deeper awareness, probably start fewer wars, have fewer conflicts with others, gain deeper self-understanding and healthier empathy for others. Projection is normal, healthy, instinctual, dangerous, problematic, beautiful, creative, and impossible to stop.
Projective Dream Work helps us to become more healthfully aware of all our projections. It helps in our responsibility to own our projections, to manage and use our projections for health and wholeness. Our goal in helping professions is to empower and invite others to move toward health and wholeness. Our goal is to, also, do our best to always move ourselves toward health and wholeness. One of the best ways I have found to keep myself moving toward health and to give healthy care to others is to explore night-time dreams; to wonder, wander, and discover some of the meanings of dreams.
