Gestalt Therapy and Dream Analysis

Have you ever wondered what your dreams mean?

Today, I will share with you what I learned in my class on Gestalt therapy and the interpretation of dreams. I found this topic to be particularly fascinating.

Below is a brief video clip in which Fritz Perls, the father of Gestalt therapy, is explaining the process of dream work.

Dream Description
Moving onto my class, one woman, let’s call her Alexandra, mentioned that she had a strange dream in which she was at her parents’ home and was asked to go and pick some potatoes (a vegetable that they did not grow at the time).

She went to her back yard to pick the potatoes and noticed that they were extraordinarily large and as she bent down to pick up six of them, she noticed that they looked rather alien-like because they had spikes on them.

She managed to pick up all six potatoes but was not hurt picking them up despite them having these spikes. She brought these potatoes home and then proceeded to pick up and throw a cookbook against the kitchen wall. It was after her throwing the cookbook that she woke up.

Methodology
The general principles in dream interpretation in Gestalt therapy (unlike Freudian/psychoanalytic) is that the therapist does not make any interpretations. The meaning of everything in a dream is determined by the client.

Dreams are often wish fulfillments; they can be rehearsals in your mind for when you are anxious about something.

All the elements of a dream are viewed as parts of a person’s persona. The I = who you identify with in the dream and you project other aspects of yourself that you may not fully own onto other elements (people or things) in the dream.

To assist the client in understanding his or her dream, the therapist asks the client to tell the dream in the present tense as if it is happening now (not in the past).

Furthermore, the therapist may ask the client to talk to the different actors (or elements) in the dream as well as conduct a dialogue between the different elements – in this manner, the client becomes aware of disowned or unrecognized wishes, desires or concerns.

Therefore, Alexandra was later asked to come up to the front of the class and start telling her dream again but this time as if it was happening to her right then. And as Alexandra was describing bits and pieces of it, the therapist/professor would ask her how/what she was feeling.

Retelling of Dream in the Present (with therapist as observer)
(based on my recall; I did not have this taped)

Alexandra says: “I am now in the kitchen with the six potatoes,”
Professor asks: “And how are you feeling standing in the kitchen?”
Alexandra replies: “I’m feeling angry and resentful. I didn’t want to go and pick these potatoes.”
Professor asks: “What happens next?”
Alexandra: “I notice my old and worn “Joy of Cooking” cookbook.”
Professor: “Could you be your cookbook?” “What are you feeling now as your cookbook?”
Alexandra: “I’m feeling well-loved and worn.”
Professor: “You’re feeling well-loved and used.”
Alexandra: “I hadn’t thought of feeling used before…but yes, I also feel used.”
Professor: “How do you feel about Alexandra throwing you against the wall?”
Alexandra: “I don’t feel angry. I understand that Alexandra is angry but she’s not angry at me.”
Professor: Now return to being you, what are you feeling as you look at the cookbook?
Alexandra: “I love the cookbook. It’s been in my family for years but I don’t want to be constrained by it anymore. I want to be able to do things my own way. I want to be able to figure things out as I go along. If I use the cookbook, I have to follow rules. I’m tired of following rules.”

The end result was that Alexandra realized through this here and now dialogue of her dream with the professor that she was fed up with following rules and being the good girl.

Instead, she wanted to go her own way now, to figure things out on her own without a prescribed set of rules to guide her. This was an exciting and scary moment of awareness for her.

While this was only a snapshot of dreamwork in action, I think it illustrates the incredible powerfulness of the Gestalt technique and how much potential information may lay hidden within one’s dreams.

What do you think about this method of interpreting dreams? What things do you envision being able to discover about yourself when remembering a dream?

Reference:

Yontef, G. M. (1993).  Awareness, dialogue, and process.  Highland, NY: Gestalt Journal Press.