Counselling with Dreams and Nightmares

Treads a useful path between the nonsensical over-analysis and over-generalization that one tends to get from the more tabloid approach, and the dry academic stance that could rob the material of its creative potential... The authors are enthusiastic and creative enough to make this a useful book for a variety of professionals, producing concrete description for those who need this and ideas for others... it makes clear that there are structured and pragmatic ways of working with this material that can deepen insight and produce more creative use of the therapy setting... an enjoyable and useful read for a wide variety of professionals' - "Journal of Mental Health " This practical, eclectic guide points out that dreams are not the prerogative of psychoanalysts, and is the first to provide counsellors with a model and techniques for working with their clients' dreams and nightmares. Using case examples throughout, the authors demonstrate that, used with sensitivity, dreamwork can prove a fruitful therapeutic tool. The emphasis is on the fact that dreams are the creation of, and belong' to, the dreamer and that they offer a powerful means of access to an individual's emotional and creative life. Chapters describe objective methods of understanding and interpreting dream language and symbols, and vivid subjective methods by which clients can be encouraged to experience the emotional content of the dream in the counselling session. Different types of nightmare are defined and separate guidelines are outlined for working with and alleviating nightmare distress. Guidance is also given on how to deal with post-traumatic nightmares, night terrors and children's nightmares.