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Overview of the Dream Interview Method
by Don Burch

Working with your dreams is a fascinating endeavor, but it can be a frustrating one without guidelines. If you supplement your solo dream study with an hour or so a week with a friend or dream specialist you will likely find that you learn faster and have a lot of fun. In case you, like most of us, feel shy about sharing your sexual dreams, remember that you can practice with your dream partner by working on any of your other dreams. Whether you work on your dreams alone or with a partner you will have more success if you organize your interview.

Following the six basic interview steps in a flexible but thorough way will help you explore the dream effectively with a minimum of distortion from extraneous misleading projections.

Get a rich description of all the major dream elements. Ask the dreamer to describe--and in the case of objects, define--the major elements of the dream as if he/she were describing them to someone from another planet who depends on him/her to learn about life on earth. Ask the dreamer for a definition/description that includes his/her feelings or judgments of each element.
Recapitulate each description using the dreamer's words and tone. Do not add your own words or associations. The words the dreamer chooses will usually be the most potent associative triggers. Edit and synthesize slightly if necessary to make the descriptions terse. Do not interpret, just mirror the dreamer's descriptions.
Bridge from the dream images to specific situations in the dreamer's life. Ask "Does (recapitulate the description) remind you of anything or anyone in your life?" or "Does it remind you of any part of yourself?" Test the strength of the bridge. Verify and clarify. A dreamer will sometimes make a bridge not because there is a good fit but in an effort to please the interviewer.
Have the dreamer tell you specifically how the dream element relates to the dreamer's waking life . Say something like, "You say this dream image (or action or feeling) reminds you of X. How so?" Dreamers will also sometimes bridge from only a small part of a description, ignoring the many other aspects of the dream image that don't seem to fit the bridged-to waking situation very well at all. Upon testing such a bridge, the dreamer can usually see that the dream image really doesn't correspond very well to the identified waking situation. When this occurs, simply return to the definition and ask for the dreamer to give it to you once again and to elaborate if appropriate. Then, armed with more information, recapitulate and bridge again.
Summarize descriptions and bridges as you go along, especially at the end of each scene and at the end of the interview. Ask the dreamer to correct you if you misstate or give an inappropriate emphasis to any part of the summary. And be sure to invite him/her to add any thoughts that occur to him/her as you are making your summary, for these are often very helpful and integrative in nature. As the dreamer listens to a summary or conducts one for himself/herself, the pieces of the dream continue to fall into place and the overall meaning of the dream usually becomes clearer.
Reflect . Invite the dreamer to consider what, if any, actions or attitudinal shifts might be appropriate in light of the insights gained from the dream interview. Ask the dreamer to reread the dream two or three times over the next week and deliberately keep in mind the major dream images and insights for the entire week. Writing a one-page summary of the dream interview is extraordinarily useful for most dreamers. By putting in writing your thoughts and insights generated by the dream work, you are more likely to remember them, understand them better, and make use of them.

References

Delaney, Dr. Gayle. (1994). Sexual dreams: Why we have them, what they mean . NY: Fawcett Columbine, pp. 65-67.

Reach Don at: dburch@springnet1.com for information about his Personality Type services.