Spiritual and Nonspiritual Approaches to Dream Work: Effects on Clients' Well-Being

Abstract

From antiquity to present, some people have viewed dreams as possible links to spiritual realms and sacred forces (Van de Castle, 1994; Wollmering, 1997). Virtually every religious tradition throughout history has sought spiritual guidance, divine revelation, and creative inspiration from dreams (Bulkeley, 1999). This point is illustrated by 98 specific references to dreams and in Old Testament (Wollmering, 1997). William James (1900/1958) philosophized that dreams may come from nonrational part of our psyche that is source of deep religious experience. Jung (1964) also believed that dreams were linked to spiritual life, even proposing possibility that dreams are inspired by transcendental forces outside dreamer, somnia a Dee missa (dreams sent by God): We are so captivated by and entangled in our subjective consciousness that have forgotten age-old fact that God speaks chiefly through dreams and visions.... If a theologian really believes in God, by what authority does he suggest that God is unable to speak through dreams? (Jung, 1964, pp. 92-93) Jung elaborated on this assertion by explaining that prejudices, errors, and fantasies influence conscious life, but unconscious is unencumbered by such distortions. This immunity to such psychic noise is perhaps basis for belief that unconscious is receptive to spiritual communication. unconscious, finding expression in dreams, may be only part of psyche pure enough to hear voice of a transcendent power. Bulkeley (1994) proposed that this potential for religious significance is present in all people's dreams, we will discover that all people's dreams, not just dreams of churchgoers and formally 'religious' people, have this potential for religious meaning. We will find that a religious dimension is potentially present in all people's dreaming (p. 21). According to Bulkeley (1999), looking at dreams from a purely psychological perspective or in purely religious terms artificially restricts dream interpretation. Rather, Bulkeley (1999) suggested that dream interpretation can be enhanced by exploring both emotional and spiritual aspects of dreams, thereby promoting psychological integration and fostering spiritual and religious well-being. Although many theoreticians have proposed an association between spiritual phenomena and dreams, no research has been conducted on effects of helping clients explore their dreams from a spiritual perspective. If dreams have potential for spiritual guidance or revelation, then it is possible that helping clients explore their dreams from their own spiritual perspective could provide a therapeutically rich experience. This study investigated whether helping volunteer clients use their spiritual beliefs to explore and interpret their dreams is therapeutically beneficial. To study a subject as abstract as spirituality, first needed to define it. Several authors have conceptualized spirituality as being closely related to transcendence (extending beyond human or material existence) without making specific reference to formal religious doctrine. For example, Ellison (1983) defined it existentially as the capacity to find purpose and meaning beyond one's self and immediate (p. 338). Miller and Martin (1988) described spirituality more traditionally as inner experience of acknowledging a transcendent being, power, or reality greater than ourselves (p. 200). In a biography of Carl Jung, Jaffe (1970) described an overlap between spirituality and existentialism: The experience of meaning depends on awareness of a transcendental or spiritual reality that complements empirical reality of life and together with it forms a whole (p. 21). It is difficult to define spirituality without also discussing its relationship to religiosity. Religiosity connotes allegiance to a particular system of faith and worship. …