I J o D R Abstracts of the 31th Annual Conference of the International Association for the Study of Dreams June 4 - June 8, 2014 Berkeley, California, USA Content This supplement of the International Journal of Dream Research includes the abstracts of presenters who gave consent to the publishing. The abstracts are categorized into thematic groups and within the category sorted according to the last name of the fi rst presenter. Affi liations are included only for the fi rst author. A name register at the end is also provided. ing on their own behalf and asking for response. The Global Dream Initiative will develop a forum to see and hear the world’s dreams and to begin utilizing them to create new and more generative ways of responding to the trauma of the world, ways that are not trapped in the cultural, politi- cal, economic, and environmental approaches that now are failing us. Joining other like-minded efforts worldwide, the Contents: Global Dream Initiative is a call to action. 1. Keynotes 2. Morning Dream Groups Sleep and Dreams as Pathways to Resilience Fol- 3. Workshops lowing Trauma 4. Clinical Topics Anne Germain 5. Religion/Spiritual/Culture/Arts Pittsburgh, PA, USA 6. Education/Other Topics 7. PSI Dreaming Sleep is a fundamental brain function, and a core biological process involved in sustaining mental and physical readi- 8. Lucid Dreaming ness, especially when facing adversity. Sleep is essential for 9. Research/Theory survival and is involved in a number of biological and men- tal functions that sustain performance, including emotion 10. Posters/Hot-off-the Press regulation, learning, memory, executive functions, decision making, as well as cardiovascular and immune functions, for example. Dreaming also supports a number of these psychological and cognitive functions. Sleep can and will 1. Keynotes (temporarily) adapt to unusual or extreme demands and conditions. However, just like malnutrition, chronic sleep defi ciency and dysphoric dreams will compromise mental and physical performance, and ultimately, lead to severe The Global Dream Initiative and chronic organ damage and failure. In the case of sleep and dreaming, the primary organ is the brain, and failure Stephen Aizenstat means compromised mental health. In this presentation, Santa Barbara, California, USA evidence supporting the relationship between consolidated sleep, adaptive dreaming, and mental health outcomes in- The Global Dream Initiative calls for a recognition of the cluding posttraumatic stress, depression, suicidality and trauma in the world and the need to participate in its heal- addictions will be highlighted. The developmental impact of ing. We assert that the world’s suffering appears in the liv- adversity and trauma on sleep and dreaming and indices ing images of dreams and that we can creatively respond. of mental health outcomes will also be discussed. Next, Dream Tending, a practice developed over 30 years by Ste- sleep and dreaming disturbances will be examined as modi- phen Aizenstat, experiments with a worldview that playfully fi able threats to resilience, and evidence demonstrating the and soulfully sees the world as alive and always dreaming. impacts of specifi c behavioral and pharmacological treat- He advocates that we go to the very depths of experience, ments targeting the reconsolidation of restorative sleep and to the level of the anima mundi – the soul of and in the adaptive dreaming on resilience will be summarized. A syn- world – and listen. At this level of experience we engage the thesis of potential directions for future research and clinical voices of the world’s dreams, effortlessly arising and speak- implications will conclude this presentation. International Journal of Dream Research Volume 7, Supplement 1 (2014) S1 I J o D R The Cognitive-Experiential Model of Dream Work: nation of these emotions, dream images and body locations Overview of the Method and Research are held together in a “composite,” resulting in a new way of being in the body and the world. Clara Hill In this approach to dreamwork, the body becomes a ve- College Park, MD, USA hicle for self-cultivation and creative transformation. By fol- lowing the movement of ki within dream, through the body Dr. Hill will fi rst provide an overview of the steps of the Cog- of individual dreamers and into the community, healing and nitive-Experiential Dream Model. Next, she will describe the spiritual growth take place naturally, opening up new av- research about the effectiveness of the model. Then she enues for exploration and compassionate unfolding. will describe therapist variables, client variables, and dream characteristics that infl uence the effectiveness of the mod- el. Finally, she will describe some possible new directions Two Dreams Diverged in the Woods and I Took in the hopes of spurring more development and research Them Both about this model. Walter Berry and David Jenkins Los Angeles, CA, USA Nightmare Triad Syndrome David Jenkins works extensively with story and narrative in Barry Krakow his dreamwork. Walter Berry works extensively with the vi- Albuquerque, NM, USA sual elements in his. When you bring these two approaches together, amazing things happen. David elicits the story The Nightmare Triad Syndrome talk delves into our early in your dreams, fi nding ways to understand the narrative clinical and research experience in using Imagery Rehearsal within the dream and to allow new elements that make the Therapy for the treatment of chronic nightmares in diverse dream stand up and talk. Walter has you draw the dream (no samples of patients, and which eventually led us to real- experience necessary), and explores where the visual ele- ize many of these same patients suffered from co-morbid ments lead us as we closely examine what the hand gives insomnia and sleep apnea. After reviewing our experiences us that the conscious mind has not . What you have drawn and related research, we delve into theoretical explanations will seem simple and crude, perhaps a few stick fi gures and of how these disorders may be connected in ways not pre- lines, but you will be amazed what appears on that paper by viously recognized. the time the group fi nishes with it. Between these two approaches, the verbal and the visual, you – and the group – will fi nd connections that would not be seen with either approach separately. When we work to- gether over several mornings, other kinds of associations 2. Morning Dream Groups will standout. You might fi nd your dream story develop- ing a life of its own. You might fi nd recurring elements in your drawings that point to a deeper truth. The excitement The Tao of Embodied Dreamwork of working with multiple dreams and multiple approaches gives you an experience of your dream that you cannot get Sheila Asato from any one dimension of dreamwork. St. Louis Park, MN, USA David and Walter have been co-leading groups together for over two years, including a morning dream group at last year’s IASD Conference, as well as working on each other’s The Tao fl ows through all creation. When we focus on this dreams for many years. They share a mutual love of dream- creative fl ow through dreaming and the body , it is possible ing and the thrill of the AHA! moment of dream work. They to transcend the limitations of culture and language and fi nd hold a profound respect for the bravery of our dream selves common ground. By staying with a body-based , experien- who put the poetry of our lives into action as they go out tial form of dreamwork, it is possible for people from diverse every night to do battle with monsters, interview Superman backgrounds to come together and grow both as individu- while fl ying with him, and risk all kinds of embarrassing be- als and as a community. havior on our behalf. In this morning dream group, Asato brings infl uences from her background in Japanese culture, spirituality and the arts together with her training in embodied imagination work to help dreamers explore the wisdom of the dream within their Lucid Dreaming Morning Group own bodies for renewed creative energy, personal insight, spiritual development and healing. Diana Bevan and Line Salvesen At the start of each session, there will be a brief check-in Vacaville, CA, USA followed by a meditative exercise to heighten body aware- ness before encountering the dream. Then, as a dream is This dream group will focus on personal experiences in shared, participants will focus on feelings that arise in their lucid dreaming, and working with dreams while lucid. The bodies as they listen to and begin to experience the reality focus is not dream interpretation, except in the context of of the dream in waking life. As the dream unfolds, emotions a dreamer speaking about their interpretations of their own often emerge in the form of physical sensations, which are dream. Participants will be required to keep a dream jour- then anchored in specifi c parts of the body. Finally, a combi- nal throughout the conference so that they can come to the S2 International Journal of Dream Research Volume 7, Supplement 1 (2014) I J o D R dream group with fresh memories of the previous night. this oneness are through dreaming, waking visions, and Participants will break up into small groups to discuss their fi nding the shamanic personality within ourselves . I believe dreams from the previous night. that a very direct way of attaining this new consciousness is Each member of the group will be asked to choose a through ecstatic trance and the use of the ecstatic postures dream from the previous night and describe it as they re- as researched and taught by Felicitas Goodman.