By JANET GAIL PATTERSON a Dissertation Submitted in Partial
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THE BODY DREAMING: ENGAGING THE DREAM’S DISTURBING IMAGE by JANET GAIL PATTERSON A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN PSYCHOLOGY MERIDIAN UNIVERSITY 2013 THE BODY DREAMING: ENGAGING THE DREAM’S DISTURBING IMAGE by JANET GAIL PATTERSON A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN PSYCHOLOGY MERIDIAN UNIVERSITY 2013 This dissertation has been accepted for the faculty of Meridian University by: _________________________________________ Aftab Omer, Ph.D. Dissertation Advisor __________________________________________ Melissa Schwartz, Ph.D. Dissertation Chair __________________________________________ Shoshana Fershtman, Ph.D. Dissertation Committee Member Nightmares fill with light like a holiday. Men and angels speak one language. The elusive ones finally meet. The essence and evolving forms run to meet each other like children to their father and mother. Good and evil, dead and alive, everything blooms from one natural stem. --Rumi from "The Elusive Ones" Night and Sleep iv ABSTRACT THE BODY DREAMING: ENGAGING THE DREAM'S DISTURBING IMAGE by Janet Patterson This study posed the Research Problem: In what ways does working affectively and somatically with disturbing dream images affect adaptive identity? It was hypothesized that working with disturbing dream images somatically and affectively would allow the dreamer to experience negative affects, thus broadening the experience and acceptance of their own multiplicity. The theory-in-practice was Imaginal Transformation Praxis (ITP). The literature review selects works from psychological, psychobiological, popular, and cross-cultural approaches to dreams; Imaginal Approaches to dreams, including somatic dream work, psychological multiplicity, and affect theory; and disturbing imagery. Examining this literature reveals a gap in somatic approaches to dreams. The research methodology used was Imaginal Inquiry. Participants worked with a disturbing dream with the researcher, then made masks, through which they spoke as their Dream Self and a Dream Other. The study's cumulative learning states that engaging with disturbing dream images affectively and somatically can facilitate the experience of uncomfortable affects, allowing for recognition of unfamiliar parts of the psyche, merging them with more familiar aspects, v thereby helping to temporarily suspend the dreamer from duality of consciousness. The first learning claims that attending to physical expressions of affect lends depth to the work for the dreamer, allowing them access to previously unavailable aspects of their psyche, which can enable shifts in their adaptive identity. The claim of the second learning is that fear of the potentially intense experiences of the imagination restricts the ability to affectively experience disturbing dream images. The third learning claims that the use of a mask necessitates certain somatic responses that facilitate the wearer's embodiment of the other, in this case, a dream entity. The claim of the fourth learning is that as the affects associated with the Dream Self and the Dream Other are embodied, these two images merge, allowing a step out of adaptive identity and towards an encounter with the figure in Imaginal Transformative Praxis known as the Friend. Working with dreams somatically and affectively gives dreamers an experience of engagement with the Friend, allowing them to experience and embody affects that arise in response to disturbing dream images and meet the challenges they present. vi CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iv Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................1 Research Topic Relationship to the Topic Theory-In-Practice Research Problem and Hypothesis Methodology and Research Design Learnings Significance and Implications of the Study 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................15 Introduction and Overview Dreams Cross-Cultural Approaches to Dreams Imaginal Approaches to Dreams Disturbing Images Conclusion 3. METHODOLOGY ...........................................................................................86 Introduction and Overview Participants Four Phases of Imaginal Inquiry vii 4. LEARNINGS ..................................................................................................106 Introduction and Overview Learning One: The Body Dreaming Learning Two: Facing the Fear of Unleashed Imagination Learning Three: The Power of the Mask Learning Four: The Merging of the Dream Self and the Dream Other Conclusion 5. REFLECTIONS ..............................................................................................166 Significance of the Learnings Mythic and Archetypal Reflections Implications of the Study Appendix 1. ETHICS APPLICATION ................................................................................189 2. CONCEPTUAL OUTLINE ............................................................................195 3. CHRONOLOGICAL OUTLINE ....................................................................198 4. INFORMED CONSENT ................................................................................203 5. FLYER ............................................................................................................205 6. ADVERTISEMENT FOR PARTICIPANTS VIA LOCAL FREE PAPER ................................................................................................207 7. SCRIPT: INITIAL CONTACT VIA EMAIL .................................................208 8. SCRIPT: INITIAL TELEPHONE CONTACT ..............................................209 9. CONTINUED PARTICIPANT SCREENING QUESTIONAIRE ................212 10. SCRIPT: PARTICPANT ACCEPTANCE PHONE CALL .........................214 viii 11. TELEPHONE SCRIPT: INFORMED CONSENT EXPLANATION .........218 12. LETTER: PARTICIPANT DENIAL ............................................................220 13. LETTER: FIRST MEETING INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPANTS .....221 14. SCRIPT: FIRST MEETING CONFIRMATION PHONE CALL ...............223 15. SCRIPT: GROUP MEETING ONE .............................................................224 16. SCRIPT: INDIVIDUAL MEETING (DREAM WORK) .............................233 17. SCRIPT: GROUP MEETING TWO, MORNING SESSION ......................237 18. SCRIPT: GROUP MEETING TWO, AFTERNOON SESSION .................241 19. SCRIPT: GROUP MEETING THREE ........................................................247 20. SCRIPT: GROUP MEETING TWO, JOURNALING QUESTIONS #1 .....251 21. GROUP MEETING TWO, JOURNALING QUESTIONS #2 ....................252 22. GROUP MEETING TWO, JOURNALING QUESTIONS #3 ....................253 23. GROUP MEETING THREE, JOURNALING QUESTIONS #4 .................254 24. GROUP MEETING THREE, JOURNALING QUESTIONS #5, LEARNING # 1 ............................................................................................255 25. GROUP MEETING THREE, JOURNALING QUESTIONS #5, LEARNING #2 ............................................................................................256 26. GROUP MEETING THREE, JOURNALING QUESTIONS #5, LEARNING #3 ...............................................................................................257 27. GROUP MEETING THREE, JOURNALING QUESTIONS #6 ..................258 28. LETTER: THANK YOU ...............................................................................260 30. SUMMARY OF THE DATA ........................................................................261 31. SUMMARY OF THE LEARNINGS ............................................................278 ix NOTES ............................................................................................................................281 REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................306 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Research Topic The topic of dreams has been fundamental to the field of psychology since its inception, with Sigmund Freud’s monumental book The Interpretation of Dreams laying the groundwork.1 Dreams have become a vital topic within popular culture as well, particularly since Ann Faraday’s book Dream Power made dream work accessible to the layperson.2 The vast amount of literature, both clinical and popular, that has been written on dreams is testament to the curiosity they invoke. Scientists and world leaders, as well as artists and poets, have credited dreams as the inspiration behind their discoveries, actions, insights, and creations.3 Nightmares—those dreams that awaken us with heart- pounding, sweating, and other noticeable physical symptoms—are not the type of dream this study will explore, even though they usually contain disturbing images.4 Disturbing dreams—those dreams that contain unpleasant, often taboo images—have received comparatively little attention in the literature and yet they are a common element of nighttime visions.5 Dreams with disturbing images may leave the wakened dreamer with a sense of physical or emotional numbness, which, when explored somatically, can lead the dreamer to an expanded sense of self. 2 Whether dreaming is a function of sleep is culturally determined; however, in Western culture, dreams can be defined as the series of images that are experienced during sleep.6 Sleep