The Montague Ullman-approach of Working with Dreams in a Group Setting
I One person, the dreamer, shares a dream with the group. The group listens to the dream as it is told and memorizes it.
II The group pretends it is their dream, and, firstly, identifies and connects to the emotions aroused in ’their’ dream; secondly, the group members also search for metaphorical meanings of different parts, images, actions, etc, in the dream.
III A The dream is given back to the dreamer who is free to give as much or as little response as he/she wants to.
III B1 If the dreamer wishes so, the group starts a dialogue with the dreamer around the dream, with the purpose of further connecting the dream with the dreamer’s life situation. The group asks the dreamer about recent whereabouts, thoughts and feelings experienced in the evening before the night when the dream was dreamt, and/or the days before.
III B2 The dream can be read to the dreamer, who has the opportunity to make further connections in the light of what has been discovered during the process so far.
III B3 If the dreamer so wants, the group members can share their conclusions about the meaning of the dream, or parts of it in a so-called ’orchestrating projection’.
IV In a group which meets on a regular basis, a session starts with looking back on the previous session, and the dreamer whose dream was worked with during that session can share thoughts with the group that might have arisen since the last meeting.
Since this is a ’one-time-meeting’, the group will be given time for evaluation of the work and experiences around it. Key concepts in the process will be presented and discussed:
- Non-intrusiveness – protection of the dreamer’s safety
- Safety-factor and curiosity-factor
- The dreamer should be in control of the process
- Projections in the process of experiencing and/or interpreting a dream
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