Discerning Life with Dreams: Using
Dreams in Decision-Making.
B. Anne Frey, PhD candidate,
is earning her doctorate from the California Institute of Integral
Studies. Her dream studies and work have been under the mentorship
of Kelly Bulkeley, PhD, and the additional tutelage of Daniel
Deslauriers, PhD, and G. William Domhoff, PhD. Her work focuses on
the spiritual dimensions of dream.
Abstract
The topic of this paper is the
relationship between dreams and spiritual intelligence. The
subject is the experience of people who use dreams to make
important decisions in a spiritual context, or use dreams in
discernment. The research had two goals: 1) explore the experience
of using dreams in the discernment process, 2) explore the
relationship between dreams, discernment, and spiritual
intelligence. Using case study methodology this study addressed
the question, “What is the experience of people who use dreams to
make important decisions in a spiritual context?” Multiple case
study methodology was used. It included face-to-face interviews
along with electronic questionnaires to identify what the seven
participants identify as spiritual and why and to better
understand their experience of exploring their dreams for guidance
and insights. Findings included but were not limited to themes and
insights from dream records and interviews. Participants only
submitted dreams that helped them make a decision. Through the
data gathering process some light was shed on what participants
identify as spiritual about or in their dreams. While not an
inquiry purpose, it is expected that the data may be useful to
other researchers currently doing dream research with a spiritual
element.
