Dreaming About You as We Speak: Waking Dreams and Their Significance in Clinical Work

Abstract

“Waking dreams,” a particular form of reverie, was first identified by neo-Bionians. They contend that our mind processes raw stimuli by associating the sensory impressions (beta elements) with mental images, thereby creating so-called alpha elements (i.e., pictograms). The images then form an ongoing dream-flow outside of awareness, continually producing a personal, preconscious understanding of what is taking place in and around us. Pictograms are our first, rudimentary interpretations; they serve as the first step toward verbalizing our affective experiences. Waking dreams are (composites of) pictograms that unexpectedly emerge into consciousness during session. Waking dreams shift our focus from content to process in session; they provide a new understanding of the transference-countertransference dynamic of the clinical moment; they alter the affect in the room; and open the door to new experience and new interpretation. We will demonstrate the clinical significance of waking dreams by an in-depth discussion of a relevant case.