Healing Collage –
A Visual Approach to Dreamwork
Sheila
McNellis Asato, (USA),
founder of Monkey Bridge
Arts, LLC, a center
dedicated to the growth, transformation and healing of individuals
and the community through the arts, dreaming and creative
development. She is in the final stages of completing her MA in
Human Development at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.
Abstract
Dreaming is a highly emotional
and visual state of consciousness. For the most part, research has
shown us that dreaming tends to be a non-verbal experience. Upon
waking, as we move into the world of words and linear thought, it
is only natural to try to articulate the dream experience in
words. After all, verbal fluency is one of our strengths in waking
life. However, while the written word is undoubtedly useful for
journaling, a great deal is unnecessarily lost in translation. If
words were the only language at our disposal in waking life, that
would be an unfortunate necessity. Fortunately, we all have access
to the language of form and feeling in waking life through the
arts. Even non-artists can benefit from a visual and emotional
approach to dreamwork.
When
one approaches the dream first through the language of form and
feeling, it is easier to remain true to the original dream
experience. The Healing Collage process offers even non-artists a
way of remaining closer to the original dream experience while
inviting it to take on form in waking life. Once the dream has
safely crossed the threshold of consciousness into the material
world, then one can begin the task of translation, moving the
dream from the world of feeling and form into the world of words.
In
this experiential workshop, participants will learn how to make
their own Healing Collage which is a visual means of accessing,
interacting with and deepening one’s relationship to the dream,
even in the absence of dream recall.
Like the collage
artist in the studio, the dreaming self loves to cut, paste, and
move imagery around in a number of surprising and occasionally
shocking ways to get our attention. In this workshop, participants
will discover the wisdom hidden within their own hands as they
learn to make a Healing Collage. As Jung said, “Often
the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled
with in vain.”
After completing a Healing Collage, a series of structured writing
exercises will show participants how to begin the process of
translating visual imagery into the language of words. As they do
so, they will discover the underlying compositional structure that
emerges when the dream artist is given free access to a
two-dimensional surface. As participants discover the untapped
wisdom hidden within their eyes and hands, they learn how dreaming
and the creative process are undeniably intertwined. This will
open up new ways of interacting with dream material, introduce a
new or deepen one’s relationship with the imaginal realm and
stimulate the creative process.
By
the end of the workshop, participants will understand how to
create a Healing Collage and have received detailed instructions
for continuing the process at home. Healing Collage is a direct,
non-threatening approach to working with dreams that everyone can
learn easily, including those with no artistic background. Because
of its accessibility, even people with little or no dream recall
will find a way to begin working their dreams in a meaningful way.
