The Power of Multiplicity in an
On-Going Dream Group
Gillian Finocan, MA, is a
doctoral student in clinical psychology at Miami University in
Oxford, Ohio. Her master’s thesis focused on women’s experiences
using different dreamwork methods. She is currently working
towards her dissertation which will be a qualitative study on
healing dreams and the role of dreams in recovery.
Darren M. Del Castillo, BA,
is a second-year graduate student in the Clinical Psychology
program at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He is originally from
Southern California where he completed an undergraduate degree in
English. His interests include: dreams and psychopathology;
psychoanalytic and archetypal psychology; the development of
stigmatized identities; and the psychology of men.
Lisa M. Salvi, LISW, MA,
is a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Miami University,
Oxford, Ohio. She received a master’s degree in social work from
City University of New York, Hunter College. Her interests include
childhood experiences of trauma, play therapy, and dreams.
Jill C. Thomas, MA, is a
doctoral student in clinical psychology at Miami University in
Oxford, Ohio. She has recently completed an action research
dissertation study aimed at facilitating student activism in
addressing disordered eating and body consciousness on campus.
Jonathan Fishman, BS, is a
Clinical Psychology graduate student at Miami (OH) University. He
is currently working on his master’s project which is looking at
how people heal from the negative effects of parental divorce. He
meets weekly for dream group with the five friends and fellow
co-authors of this paper.
Valerie Loeffler, MA, is a
clinical psychology graduate student at Miami University in Oxford
Ohio, USA.
Abstract
“A wrong path into the dream
occurs when we take one path only” (Hillman, 1978, pg. 156).
Although there are numerous methods for working with and paying
attention to dreams, an on-going dream group using an Ullman
(1979, 1996) approach opens an imaginal space for the dreamer, as
well as the others in the group who witness the dream, to
experience and appreciate a dream on several different levels. The
importance of moving towards multiple understandings rather than
seeking singleness of meaning is viewed as essential to keeping
dream images fresh, well, and alive. Such multiplicity can only be
accomplished when the dream is allowed to be the teacher rather
than the object of a single interpretation. The dream is then
honored and celebrated from multiple perspectives. A dream-group
fosters this kind of multiplicity by encouraging further inquiry
into image and by allowing the dream to be our teacher.
This paper presents
the multiplicity of a dream that emerged in the context of an
on-going dream group. Previous research (Finocan, 2005, Finocan &
Knudson, 2005) has used performance texts to illustrate the
dreamer’s response to group dreamwork. This project expands upon
previous work by presenting, in the form of performance texts, the
multiplicity in the group member’s responses. Following a dream
group experience, each dream group member titled the dream and
responded to the dream and the group experience in the form of a
performance text. Selected performance texts are presented along
with the dreamer’s response to the group members’ artistic
responses.
References
Denzin, N. K. (1997).
Interpretive Ethnography: Ethnographic Practices for the 21st
Century. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Denzin, N. K.
(1997b). Performance texts. In Tierney, W. G., Lincoln, Y.
S. (eds.) Representation and the Text: Reframing the Narrative
Voice. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Denzin, N. K.
(2000). Aesthetics and the practices of qualitative
inquiry. Qualitative Inquiry, 6(2), 256-265.
Denzin, N. K. (2001).
Interpretive Interactionism, 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
Diversi, M. (1998). Glimpses of
street life: Representing lived experience through short stories.
Qualitative Inquiry, 4(2), 131-147.
Ellis, C. (1997). Evocative
autoethnography: Writing emotionally about our lives. In Tierney,
W. G., Lincoln, Y. S. (eds.) Representation and the Text:
Reframing the Narrative Voice. Albany: State University of New
York Press
Finocan, G. (2005). Understanding
ourselves through dreamwork: Women finding significance in the
stories and images of dreams. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. Miami
University, Oxford, Ohio.
Finocan, G., & Knudson, R. M.
(2005). How women understand their dreams and self-identities.
Paper presented at the 22nd International Conference for the
Association for the Study of Dreams, Berkeley, CA.
Frank, A. W. (2000). The
standpoint of a storyteller. Qualitative Health Research, 10(3),
354-365.
Hillman, J. (1978). Further notes
on image. Spring. 152-182.
Hillman, J. (1979). Image-sense.
Spring. 130-143.
Hillman, J. (1997). An inquiry
into image. Spring. 62-88.
Hillman. J., & McLean, M. (1997).
Dream Animals. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.
Kirsch, G. E. (1999). Ethical
Dilemmas in Feminist Research: The Politics of Location,
Interpretation, and Publication. Albany, NY: State University of
New York Press.
Knudson, R. (2001). Significant
dreams: Bizarre or beautiful? Dreaming, 11(4): 167-177.
Knudson, R. (2003). The
significant dream as emblem of uniqueness: The fertilizer does not
explain the flower. Dreaming, 13(3): 121-134.
Knudson, R. (in press). Anorexia
dreaming: A case study. Dreaming.
Knudson, R. (in preparation).
Anorexia dreaming II: A case study. Dreaming.
Lather, P. (1997). Creating a
Multilayered Text: Women, Aids, and Angels. In Tierney, W. G.,
Lincoln, Y. S. (eds.) Representation and the Text: Reframing the
Narrative Voice. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Olesen, V. L. (2000). Feminisms
and qualitative research at and into the millennium.
In Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2000).
Handbook of Qualitative Research, 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage Publications, pp. 215-256.
Parry, D. C. (2004).
Understanding women’s lived experiences with infertility: Five
short stories. Qualitative Inquiry, 10(6), 909-922.
Ullman, M. (1979). Working With
Dreams. New York: Delacorte Press/Eleanor Friede.
Ullman, M. (1996). Appreciating
Dreams: A Group Approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Vickers, M. H. (2002).
Researchers as storytellers: Writing on the edge—And without a
safety net. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(5): 608-621.
