IDL Dream Interviewing Protocol
Joseph Dillard, LCSW., Ph.D.
What are three fundamental life issues that you are dealing with now in your life?
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Tell me a dream or nightmare that you have had. You may be sure you already know what it means or not have a clue. It could be revelatory or absurd, from your early childhood or last night.
Why do you think you had it? What associations do you have to this dream.
Choose an element from the dream to interview. It can be an inanimate object like a car, fire, rock, or road, or it can be a monster, antagonist, or observer. Choose one you are curious about or think may have a viewpoint different from your own.
_____, 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?
(Character), are you sure this is YOU that wants to change and not just the desire of ____?
(Continue, answering as the transformed object, if it chose to change.)
(Character), how would you score yourself 0-10, in each of the following six qualities: confidence, empathy, wisdom, acceptance, inner peace, and witnessing? Why?
Confidence, 0-10. Why?
Empathy, 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 your life issues are different. 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, become you, and act as you would?
(Character), why do you think that your human had this dream?
(Character), why do you think (some event happened or some character) was in this dream?
Thank you, (Character!) Now here are a couple of questions for _______:
What have you heard yourself say?
If this experience were a wake-up call from your inner compass, what do you think it would be saying to you?
If this experience were a wake-up call from the emerging potentials of humanity, what would it be saying to the global community?
Look back over the interview and list the specific recommendations that were made:
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Pick at least one recommendation that you want to put to work in your daily life to test this character and IDL interviewing, to see if it brings healing, balance, and/or transformation into your life.
How will you know if there are changes? Make a weekly chart. Before you go to bed at night, score yourself 0-10 in your application, or if it a simple do or not do, give yourself a √ if you remembered to apply the recommendation during your day.
Read the interview over several nights a week to incubate a non-drama alternative reality in your dreams.
Find a partner or a support person, like another person who you exchange interviews with or an IDL Practitioner. Exchange contact information. Share a report each week on how you have done on applying your recommendations.
(It is helpful to explain the six core qualities to the person being interviewed for the first time:
“Confidence” refers to fearlessness.
“Empathy” refers to the ability to take a different perspective, say of another dream element or person. We often believe we are empathetic, but unless we get validation from the other that we do indeed hear and “see” them, how do we know?
“Wisdom” is not intelligence but the ability to know what to do or say, to be in the right place at the right time for things to “click.”
“Acceptance” is the transcendence of preferences toward others and yourself.
“Inner peace” is not only the absence of distress but a positive state of broad and deep well-being.
“Witnessing” is the ability to watch the drama of your life go by without being caught up in it. “Drama” refers to taking things personally, emotional reactivity, experiencing yourself or others as persecutor, victim, or rescuer.
If you interview a life issue (or dream), please post it on our blog for us to benefit from your work! Also, we will be happy to support you in understanding and using what you discover.
For more information about the interviewing protocol, see Integral Deep Listening Interviewing Techniques
