This one-day professional development programme will explore the theory, approaches and practical skills of working with dreams in practice, either with individuals, groups or for personal development.

According to several studies, most therapists report that they attend to client dreams at least occasionally. Though dreams have been foundational to the early development of psychotherapy since the publication of Sigmund Freud’s “Interpretation of Dreams”, many contemporary therapists seem unsure as to how to work with dreams in clinical practice having barely (if at all) been equipped to work with dreams during their primary training. This programme aims to address this gap as well as offering therapists rich new avenues to personal growth and development as well as a professional skill to employ in clinical practice.

Who is this course for? 

This course is for any counselling or psychotherapy student or practitioner, psychologists or those more broadly in the mental health arena. No previous experience of working with dreams is necessary, except to have a curiosity about this phenomenon. The opportunity to work on your own dreams will be provided throughout the programme.

What are the benefits of doing this course? 

Dream work research informs us of the likely benefits of working with dreams including; decreases in general client symptoms and in levels of depression as well as increases in existential well-being when spiritual insight was the focus of the dream work. Further research shows that clients with positive attitudes towards dreams seem to have positive therapeutic outcomes. Therefore, therapists who can support clients in engaging with their dreams in therapy can further enhance therapeutic outcomes conducting talk-therapy alone. Another benefit of this course is in supporting your own psychological wellbeing by learning how to attend to your dreams. This can contribute directly to your self.

What will you learn?

Various dream theories, models and methods of working with dreams and their usefulness in clinical practice will be explored. Exercises and skills designed to provide insights into the therapeutic process, the role of dreams in our own personal development and the relevance of dreams in supervision will also be covered. This programme is based on a pluralistic approach to dream work and will cover Freud, Jung, Perls, Ullman and Hill’s theories and methods of working with dream material. You will learn two practical approaches to working with dreams; the narrative method and the quick-draw method which integrate these theories into a highly practical set of tools to use for personal development, supervision and in clinical practice.