A Model of Dream Interpretation (Dr. Jim Guinee, 1996)

A.  Choosing a dream in therapy

Client presents a dream, mentions having “weird” dreams, or mentions having recurrent dreams  

         Clinician asks client if he/she has dreams, nightmares

          Clinician and/or client feel “stuck”

B.  Interpreting the dream in therapy

     Level 1: Client presents the dream

Client’s presentation of the dream is typically from start to finish, brief in duration, lacking in detail

At this point, client and therapist can review the dream and look for its meaning

Questions include: Does it seem like anything we’ve talked about in here?

                           How did you feel during the dream? when you woke up? now?

**Example: “The sudden ex”

    

Level 2: Client “re-experiences” the dream

Therapist asks client to take deep breath, relax, and repeat

         the dream in PRESENT TENSE, as if he/she reexperiences dream

Therapists occasionally interrupts client to ask questions about

               specifics of environment

                        feelings about different events

                        relationship between dreamer and other people/things

                        meaning behind symbols

         **Example: “Dad’s steamroller”

Level 3:  Client re-experiences the dream from a different point of view

Therapists asks the client to experience the dream from another perspective

    (e.g., the tree, the house, the dog)

**Example: “Ernest and his cat”