Marta Aarli Interconnected Dreaming: Revealing The
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Marta Aarli Interconnected Dreaming: Revealing the Unconscious through the Combined Dreams of a Therapeutic Team (Paper) Combining the dreams of five members of a treatment team - one client and four psychotherapists - over a five-year period, Marta weaves their dreams and waking life experiences together, to create new insights that inform the clinical treatment and deepen the mutual recovery of all the team members. In the Windhorse model, a team of psychotherapists works with an individual client, often for five or ten years, and sometimes longer. Over time, the team observes a group dynamic that is referred to in Buddhist terms as Tonglen or exchanging oneself for others. One team in particular inspired Marta to start tracking and combining the dreams of its five members, the client and four therapists, into a story of inter-woven dreams and waking-life experiences, to reveal the unconscious dynamics of the team. In the process, it sometimes became difficult to distinguish whose dreams were whose, as the collective experience, or the dreams of the team itself, started to be revealed. Because this is a contemplative approach, the therapists work with their own states of mind in order to more fully understand what is happening inside the client, who may not be aware of or able to verbalize these feelings and insights. Dreams are one way of tuning in to these unspoken layers of experiences, especially through the combined expressions of the unconscious of all of the team members / dreamers. Many schools of psychology look at the dreams of the client, but we can take this to a deeper level when we look at the therapists’ dreams as well, and then weave them together over a period of time, to reveal the developmental stages of connection and growth happening on an unconscious level, within the whole system of the team, acknowledging the mutual benefit to all team members. The advantages of this whole-person approach are a more fully integrated healing process that encompasses all aspects of the client, and the acknowledgement of mutual recovery, the value that the client’s life has in the lives of the therapists - that we are all fundamentally sane and valuable and interconnected human beings. In this presentation Marta will: 1. Describe the Windhorse approach and team structure, 2. Create the story of fifteen dreams, woven in with waking life experiences, 3. Discuss how the dreams were worked with by the team members, and how they helped them to better understand the psychological and spiritual development that the individuals and the team were experiencing, 4. Summarize the value of looking at this level of relational medicine in the mutual learning and healing process of all team members and how others may explore this process in their own group settings. Questions. Audience – All. Kate Adams The Hidden Worlds of Children’s Spiritual Dreams (Invited Presentation) The spiritual worlds of childhood are enchanting and enticing, yet they often pass by unnoticed. When adults are aware of them, they often frame them as make-believe or figments of the imagination. Yet in these spaces, children contemplate profound questions as they seek, and find, meaning and purpose in life. Dreams are central to many children’s spiritual lives, serving as a place for both religious and spiritual experience and a space for those philosophical contemplations. Across the literature on children’s spirituality, dreams are often mentioned by children, even when the researcher has not intentionally sought them out. And yet, children’s spiritual dreams remain much less researched than those of adults across a range of disciplines. In wider, everyday life, their spiritual dreams are also often invisible for a number of reasons. This lecture invites you to accompany children on their journeys through their religious and spiritual dreams, from divine dreams which they report as encounters with divine beings, through to other big dreams which impact them, often for a lifetime. Hearing the children’s voices is essential; not only the descriptions of their dreams but also their reflections upon them. It is in this space of reflection and dialogue that we see how children make meaning of them, and come to hold these dreams as special. Given that these often make a lasting impression on their lives into adulthood, it is important to recognise and value them, to help children grow into spirituality confident adults. Kate Adams Children's Divine Dreaming (Presentation within pre-arranged panel titled “Empowering Children through Dreams”) The connection between dreams and religious and spiritual beliefs dates back to ancient civilisations. Whilst the phenomenon is often neglected in contemporary economically advanced societies, both adults and children report experiencing them. The literature on children’s divine dreams is relatively sparse, but studies show that some - from religious and non-religious backgrounds alike – occasionally experience such a dream which has significance for them. The dreams share themes and characteristics found in the teachings of the Abrahamic religions as well as dream content studies and some align with Jung’s concept of ‘big dreams’. For example, themes include precognition and reassurance. The presentation shows how children find their own meaning in these dreams, identifying messages which can appear symbolically or literally through auditory means, demonstrating how this long recognised type of dream still has relevance for many young people. Accessible for all participants. Erin Amundson Dreams as Storytellers (Morning Dream Group) This morning group engages our inner creative storyteller from our subconscious experiences. As a collective, we engage the stories of our dreams to inform both our waking life as it is and our creative power to change. Storytelling is an indigenous practice that is often lost in contemporary mystic engagement. By inviting our inner storytellers out into our waking world, we bypass resistance and welcome the co-creative process. This group content is a powerful dream work technique that takes participants out of their heads and into their subconscious. This technique has been used as a morning group meeting in dream retreats facilitated by the presenter for the past 2 years. This type of practice creates a community immediately, as participants invite one another into their stories and the collective experience of the archetypal elements is invoked. This is a practice in which an entire group can heal, be inspired, or transform based on the dream of one person, and one person can be significantly inspired by the group in turn. In each morning group we will begin with the dream of a participant, told by the dreamer in first person. The dreamer will then share his/her experience and understanding of the dream by sharing emotions, meaning and the dreamer's felt "theme" story of the dream. Following this, we will open the group to other individual perceptions of the dream "theme" and archetypal stories. The dreamer will be reminded to decide for her/himself the ultimate experience of the dream and story. When we have the collective dream theme stories, the group will then be guided in a meditation specific to drawing out each person's inner dream storyteller. Dreamers will be prompted with questions to explore how this dream story applies in their own subconscious and waking world. We will then share insights as a group, and dreamers will be invited to integrate the material through the day with more reflection, ritual or sharing. The original dreamer will be revisited at the end of group to inquire if their insight remains the same or has been inspired in some way. Typically, there is time for 1 or 2 dreams to be shared this way within the hour. Each day of the group, we'll engage at least one dream story. The process is meant to open up new possibility, however, the facilitator will always make clear that every individual's experience of a given dream is that individual's experience and that we are not here to "be right" about someone else's dream for them. This group is open to all. Jeanne M. Anastasi and Marc Hanlan How Sleep State and Dreaming Impact Perceptions of Empathy and Societal Justice in the Real World (Workshop) Summary: There is limited research on the societal and justice perspectives of those who are generally more aware of their dreams and sleep-state than the general population. Attendees will be asked to share their perspectives on empathy, societal justice, and fairness in the world around them. Their stories and insights may offer a unique perspective on local and global challenges and opportunities. Background: Dream science is often focused on the act and impact of dreams on the individual. Numerous researchers have explored the ‘real-world’ applications of dreams to waking-state (Paulson, Barrett, et al., 2017; Bergstein, 2013; White & Taytroe, 2003) but these have generally been focused on individual impacts and shifts in personal perspective. There appears to be limited research on the large-scale societal perspectives as a result of sleep-state and dreaming. For those who may have greater-than-average awareness of their dreams and sleep-state, there is an opportunity to explore their perceptions of how the use of creativity, empathy, and societal justice impacts current perceptions of fairness, bias, justice, and hope in the world. The IASD conference attendees offer a population familiar with dreams and sleep-state. This, in turn, offers a unique opportunity to collect and examine their perspectives of and impact on societal bias and culture. The Session/Workshop: How do those who report awareness of dreams and sleep-state describe societal bias and distributive justice? Do they feel that freedom or equality is more important in global and local society? We propose a workshop based around a highly-interactive dialog using a Critical Ethnographic approach (Madison, 2005) that allows exploration into diverse perspectives of indigenous and modern society, including art, poetry, mythology, literature, performance, and culture (Denzin & Giardina, 2014).