Into the intangible: an exploration of gravity dream motifs among psychotherapists

Mitchell, Claire Elizabeth (2021) Into the intangible: an exploration of gravity dream motifs among psychotherapists. DPsych thesis, Middlesex University / Metanoia Institute. [Thesis]

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Abstract

This study explores seven therapists’ phenomenological experiences of the gravity dream motif, as well as their lived experiences at the times they had these dreams and the impact the dream sequences had on their lives and practices. The ‘Phenomenology of Practice,’ as described by Van Manen was used to guide the methodology.

Three final thematic aspects were established through the interviews. The first was essential to the experience of the gravity dream: The necessary dream, the changing motif and the journey of the developing self. This theme highlighted the fact that the dream served a purpose in some way. The motif changed alongside the developing self, particularly through the search for a sense of authenticity and identity. Two further themes were essential to the interview process, the first of which was: An emergence of a new hermeneutic meaning of the dream’s significance. All the participants derived new understandings of their dreams through the use of metaphor, life parallels and their felt sense of their dreams. The final theme: The therapy space - reduction, retrieval, revival and reconnection with our dream self, materialised through the interview process. The invitation to talk about an intangible subject, the reflective distance from the dream space and then the phenomenological interview itself, all enabled the participants to reconnect with their dream selves. They were also able to retrieve new awarenesses and revive their interest in working with dreams. In addition, the study also discovered that the seven participants were employing a reductive way of working with dreams and it calls for an enhancement of dream training, with more attention paid to the value of working with dreams in therapy. Finally, it suggests greater attention should be paid to the significance of a dream motif.

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