Working with Dreams in Psychotherapy

by Clara E. Hill PhD

Overview

This accessible guide to dream interpretation is designed to help clinicians incorporate work with dreams more effectively into therapy. The author integrates psychodynamic, experiential, and humanistic theories into a comprehensive model based on the premises that dreams are personal and reflect waking life; that the meaning of dreams is best understood in a collaborative effort between client and therapist; and that both cognitions and emotions are important in this process. Based on the latest theory and research on sleep, dreaming, and cognition, and backed up by clinical work with both individuals and groups, the book contains numerous case examples.

Special Feature
An appendix features a reproducible self-guided manual on dream interpretation, suitable for distribution to clients, which features step-by-step instructions and worksheets.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781572300927
Publisher:	Guilford Publications, Inc.
Publication date:	05/03/1996
Series:	The Practicing Professional
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	262
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Clara E. Hill, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland. She is the Editor of the Journal of Counseling Psychology and the Past President of the Society for Psychotherapy Research. Her current research interests include studying the efficacy of dream interpretation and the process and outcome of psychotherapy.

Table of Contents

I. Background
1. The Role of Dream Interpretation in Therapy
2. Sleep and Dreaming
3. History of Dream Interpretation
II. Explication of the Cognitive Experiential Model of Dream Formation and Dream Interpretation
4. A Cognitive Experiential Model of Dream Formation and Dream Interpretation
5. Exploration Stage
6. Insight Stage
7. Action Stage
8. Therapeutic Issues in Using the Dream Interpretation Model
III. Clinical Examples of Using theCognitive Experiential Model in Therapy
9. Single-Session Dream Interpretation
10. Individual Therapy with Recurrent Dreams and Nightmares
11. Dream Groups
IV. Empirical Research on Dreams and Therapy
12. A Review of the Research on Dreams and Therapy
Appendix: A Manual for Self-Guided Dream Interpretation Using the Hill Model of Dream Interpretation, Clara E. Hill, Kristin J. Heaton, and David Petersen

Interviews

Clinicians working in many different modalities, as well as researchers interested in dream interpretation. May serve as a text for undergraduate and graduate-level courses in sleep and dreaming, memory and cognition, therapeutic theory, and dream interpretation.

Editorial Reviews

"This book provides a straightforward and clearly written manual on working with dreams in psychotherapy. The book is jargon-free and very easy to read. It should be useful to therapists or counselors of any theoretical persuasion in their work with dreams." —Ernest Hartmann, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Tufts University; Director, Sleep Disorder Center, Newton-Wellesley Hospital; Author of The Nightmare and Boundaries in the Mind

"Dreams have waited a very long time to be admitted to the club of mainstream respectability. Finally, this feat has been accomplished by a distinguished scholar, researcher, scientist, and clinician. Thank you, Clara Hill, for this achievement, and for putting your own stamp on dream interpretation." —Al R. Mahrer, Ph.D., University of Ottawa, author of Dream Work in Psychotherapy and Self-Change

"...a well presented, well referenced, and balanced overview of the role of dreams in psychotherapy...this is also a very practical book..." —J. Solis, Clinical Gerontologist

From the Publisher

This book describes a cognitive-experiential model from which to work with dreams in psychotherapy. In four sections, the author provides a context for her model of dream interpretation, a step-by-step approach to its use, and data to support its efficacy. She includes therapy transcripts that illustrate how therapists might help clients understand the meaning of their dreams and use this insight to address conflicts in their waking lives. The author is well-known as a leader in counseling psychology and in psychotherapy research. She is highly credible. The author's goal is to offer a comprehensive, but practical, handbook on her model of dream interpretation. She attempts to give both the conceptual basis for her model and the specific techniques of its use. Through her work, she conveys her excitement about the ways in which the process of psychotherapy is enriched through dream work. Practicing psychotherapists from all disciplines are among the target audience. The book will appeal to psychologists, social workers, psychiatric nurses, psychiatrists, and counselors. Researchers in the areas of sleep and dreaming, psychopathology, cognition, and psychotherapy may also find the text useful. The author includes lists, tables, and figures to supplement the text. All are clear and well-organized. Therapy transcripts illustrate dream analysis technique. The appendix includes a manual for self-guided dream interpretation. The book's copyright page gives permission to the reader to duplicate this appendix. This is an outstanding guidebook for practicing clinicians and clinicians-in-training on the use of dreams in therapy. It gives a clear description of Hill's approach to dreaminterpretation and provides sufficient detail for the professional reader to apply the model in practice. It is an excellent addition to the Guilford Practicing Professional series.

Sara J. Knight

A comprehensive guide to dream interpretation integrating the latest research on sleep and dreaming with a cognitive-experiential psychotherapeutic perspective (and that's the most jargon the reader will encounter in the volume). Hill (psychology, U. of Maryland) reviews the historical practices of dream interpretation, proposes her own three stage model, and through case examples shows how dreams help people make sense of their lives by assimilating unconscious material into a personal "schemata." Additionally, the volume address therapeutic issues of interpretation, monitoring clients, and maintaining flexibility in both individual and group sessions. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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