Who is most likely to know the meaning of your dreams? Did the person who wrote your favorite book about dream symbols have your dream? Did other people in dream interpretation groups have your dream? Did any psychic you might consult have your dream?
While all of these sources can offer interesting interpretations, they can’t compare in value with the perspectives of those characters that appear in your dream. This is because they are personally invested in your dream, because it is as much theirs as it is yours. Since your consciousness experienced the dream and they are invested in the dream, are they not more likely to both care and understand in ways other people cannot?
This is the hypothesis that Integral Deep Listening uses to interview the characters that appear in your dreams. It asks you to suspend your assumptions about what is real or true, including your own interpretations of the dream, in favor of simply becoming this or that character and answering a series of carefully constructed questions that are designed to do much more than provide you with a personally satisfying understanding of why you had the dream in the first place. Prepare to be astonished at the wisdom, acceptance, and autonomy you are about to experience!
(Cut and Paste the following Protocol into your word document as a template for interviewing yourself and others)
IDL Dream Interviewing Protocol
Joseph Dillard, LCSW, Ph.D.
What are three fundamental life issues that you are dealing with now in your life?
Tell me a dream you remember. It can be an old one, a repetitive dream, a nightmare, or one that you’re sure you understand.
Why do you think that you had this dream?
If this dream were playing at a theater, what name would be on the marquee?
These are the characters in the dream, beside yourself…
If one character had something especially important to tell you, what would it be?
Now remember how as a child you liked to pretend you were a teacher or a doctor? It’s easy and fun for you to imagine that you are this or that character in your dream and answer some questions I ask, saying the first thing that comes to your mind. If you wait too long to answer, that’s not the character answering – that’s YOU trying to figure out the right thing to say!
(Character,) what name would you like to be called?
(Character), look out at the world from your perspective in the dream and tell us what you see…
(Character), would you please tell me about yourself and what you are doing?
(Character), what do you like most about yourself? What are your strengths?
(Character), what do you dislike most about yourself? Do you have weaknesses? What are they?
(Character), what aspect of _____ do you represent or most closely personify?
(Character), if you could be anywhere you wanted to be and take any form you desired, would you change? If so, how?
(Continue, answering as the transformed object, if it chose to change.)
(Character), are you sure that is YOU that wants to change and not your human? Only change if YOU want to change!
(Character), how would you score yourself 0-10, in each of the following six qualities: confidence, compassion, wisdom, acceptance, inner peace, and witnessing? Why?
Confidence, 0-10. Why?
Compassion, 0-10. Why?
Wisdom, 0-10. Why?
Acceptance, 0-10. Why?
Inner Peace, 0-10. Why?
Witnessing, 0-10. Why?
(Character), how would _______’s life be different if he/she naturally scored like you do in all six of these qualities all the time?
(Character), if you could live _____’s life for him/her, how would you live it differently?
(Character),if you could live _____’s waking life for him/her today, would you handle ____’s three life issues differently? If so, how?
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(Character), maybe you have different life issues. What life issues would you focus on if you were in charge of ______’s life?
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(Character), in what life situations would it be most beneficial for ____ to imagine that he/she is you and act as you would?
(Character), why do you think ______ had this dream?
(Character), why do you think (some dream event happened) or (some character) was in the dream?
(Character), why should _____ pay any attention to what you have said? Aren’t these just a projection of ______’s own wishes and desires?
Thank you, character! And now a couple questions for _______:
What have you heard yourself say?
If this experience were a wake-up call from your life compass, what do you think it would be saying to you?
Look back over the interview and list the specific recommendations that were made:
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Test the method by choosing one or more recommendation to work with every day. Is there something you can do more or less? Is there something you can remember to do?
Application is a feedback mechanism that can change the quality of your dreams and your life.
To learn more about approaches to dreamwork, see Transformational Dreamwork.
For more information see:
Interviewing Your Dream Characters
