Dream Work in Hypnotherapy

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." --Eleanor Roosevelt

We spend ⅓ of our lives asleep, and much of that time in a dream state. In the dream state, our subconscious is in the driver’s seat: working on problems and communicating with our conscious minds through metaphor and without an understanding of the context of time and space. By using hypnosis and dream journaling, you can open the door to remembering and working with your dreams to reap the benefits of these messages and close communication. 

Dream Work: Key Tips
Set yourself up for success. Make sure you give yourself the optimal conditions for restful and uninterrupted sleep. Avoid eating any rich or heavy foods too soon before going to sleep. Sugary foods have also been known to contribute to strange dreams and fitful sleep patterns. Your mileage may vary.  

Dream journaling is essential.  Soon after starting your dream work with a hypnotherapist or using self-hypnosis, it’s helpful to have a list of dreams you’ve captured over the previous few days, weeks or months. By documenting these dreams in your dream journal, you'll have a list to work with as well as a resource for deeper introspection and interpretation over time. 

Focus on one dream at a time. Working with a specific dream is the best place to start when developing your intuition around dreams and their messages, and will jump start the hypnotherapy process. An entire dream is not required. In fact, even a snippet, fragment or basic plot, theme or feeling will be sufficient, as long as there’s enough interest in pursuing it. The more “juice” (emotional or spiritual energy) around the dream the more likely you’ll see results.

Create list of questions about the dream. Before a hypnotherapy session, write down what you’d like to understand about the dream. Don’t worry about capturing all of the aspects or nuances of meaning at first glance. The hypnotherapy process itself will help uncover each layer of meaning at precisely the right time for you to receive it.

The dream “ego”. This is the main character in each dream - which may or may not be you in your daily life (it could be another person, animal or even an inanimate object). The dream ego is the dreamer’s self image or the consciousness of the one having the dream.

Dream Work Hypnotherapy Program
Session One - Meeting Your Dreammaker
During the session: You’ll journey to a sacred Dream Temple and Garden Sanctuary to meet your Dreamweaver. While there, you’ll share your intentions for dream work and make any formal requests to the Dreamweaver about the types of dreams you’d like to have in the coming days and weeks.
Post session: Set up your Dream Journal close to the bed, a booklight, and pencil or pen. In your journal, record the following: your emotions upon waking, how those evolve as you document the dream images, characters, messages and other insights (what type of dream is it? Have I had it before? What does it remind me of? etc). Consider making drawings of the environment or surroundings in your journal as well.
 
Session Two - Dream Collaboration
During the session: You’ll meet with your Dreamweaver and be guided to sacred Dream Temple. Here you will enter the dream environment, and absorb the full setting of the dream through each of your senses. Explore and access the entire map of the dream and discover key insights through re-experiencing it under hypnosis. 
Post-Session: Document in your dream journal through narrative and sketches what you discovered about this dream. What are the key takeaways? Insights? How did it feel to re-enter this specific dream?

Session Three - Dream Work in the Sand
During the session: Using a specific dream as a focus, you’ll re-create the dream environment, characters, and plot elements using a sand tray. In doing so, you’ll tap into your creative subconscious for additional understanding, healing, and integration of the dream and its messages. 
Post Session: After creating your sand tray, make sure to take a photo and/or map. Often you may discover additional insights that continue to unfold as you contemplate the dream environment you created in the sand. Document these experiences and insights in your dream journal.

Session Four: Advanced Dream Work: Lucid Dream Skill Rehearsal OR Seeding a Dream
During the Skill Rehearsal session: Your hypnotherapist will guide you through the process of preparing for sleep and a lucid dream. For the best results, skill rehearsal processes like this one are customized to your specific emotional, physical and spiritual experiences and choice of language with respect to lucid dreaming.
Post Session: As with all other dream work sessions, document your experience in your dream journal. For the best results, listen to a sleep hypnosis recording to reinforce the skill rehearsal work you did with your hypnotherapist.
During the Seeding a Dream session: Your hypnotherapist will guide you to meet your Dreamweaver and enter the sacred Dream Temple and Garden where you’ll choose the specific “seeds” and place in the garden where you’d like your dream to grow. 
Post Session: As with all other dream work sessions, document your experience in your dream journal. Draw the specific garden you experienced, with the dream “crop” growing tall and strong in the garden, or whatever the image might be (e.g. thick vines heavy with grapes, or huge root veggies digging deep in the earth, or juicy fruit dangling from tall branches, etc). Gaze at these images you’ve drawn and re-experience them right before you fall asleep. 

Are you ready to try Dream Work for yourself? If so, book an appointment today. As with many energy healing therapies, dream work will enable you to reconnect to your inner wisdom and help you stay tuned.

Interested in learning how to become a hypnotherapist? There are lots of great hypnotherapy training programs - both online and IRL. For online programs, check out the iNLP Center. I received my CCHT certification at the HCH Institute, which offers online and in-person training in Hypnotherapy, Reiki, Shamanism, and other energy healing modalities.