Ask A Dream

Asking specific questions of the dream narrative helps to focus on specific bits of information so you can work one piece of the dream at a time. It also assists you to expand specific issues, metaphors or concerns in the dream. The technique has been used in Gestalt Therapy, as well as in NeuroLinguistic Programming.

If it is true that all parts of the dream are parts of ourselves, then we can ask specific questions of the parts. Create diologue with the "parts."

Gestalt Therapy talks about putting the parts of ourselves into the hotseat. In this style of work, you would have two chairs, and the dreamer would move from chair to chair as they answered and questioned. For example: If I dreamed of a shark attacking me, I would begin the process by being in the "dreamer's chair". I would ask outloud, "Shark, why were you attacking me?" Then I would move into the "shark's chair" and respond, with something like "Because I was hungry and you were in the way."

The purpose of the movement is to create a body sense of the two aspects of the self communicating.

In NeuroLingistic Programming, the parts dialogue is very similar. In this style of questioning and responding, it is important that each answer is honored and thanked. The belief is that we are constantly trying to tell ourselves information we need, and we often don't pay attention to the part trying to get our attention. Of course, that part then must esculate in an effort to be heard. This dialogue might go like this:

Dreamer: Will the part that is like the shark in my dream be willing to talk with me?

(Then you listen for any kind of response. The response could be words you hear in your mind, it could be a visual image, a smell or taste or a physical sensation in your body. Be very alert on all those sensory channels.)

Dreamer: Thank you for responding to me. I appreciate that.

(It is important to mean that. The unconscious will know if you are playing around or being sarcastic. If there is no response you can notice, then also respond with a thank you. You can also say you understand why it isn't ready to trust you really want to listen, after all, you have ignored it for so long. Remain mentally open to any signals and appreciative of any responses.)

Dreamer: Can you tell me what you are trying to positively accomplish? What is the positive purpose of the shark attacking me in this dream?

That is the general structure for that form of dialogue.

There is another method called a Dream Interview process created by Dr. Gayle Delaney in a book she wrote called, "Breakthrough Dreaming: How To Tap The Power of Your 24-Hour Mind". She describes a very effective process where the dreamer and a friend or the dreamer with themselves can interview the dreamer as though the interviewer was from Mars. Helps get to good detail of explanation. Please check out her book if you want more information.

What Kinds of Specific Questions are Helpful To Ask Dreams??

• Why does this image or action come to me now?
• How does this dream fit into my current problems or issues?
• What part of me might this character or object represent?
• What three adjectives can I spontaniously give for this character or object?
• What gift does the Dark Shadow figure offer me?
• Does the action of the objects represent how I handle things in waking life?
• Do the descriptive terms (adjectives) for an object tell me how I am behaving or should behave in waking life?
• Are there any parallel activities going on in the dream? (A dangerous rapids in the river and a couple breaking up, for example.)
• Are there duplications of activities?
• Are the characters from my past and possibly represent working with personal psychological issures or are the characters "bigger than life" and might be archetypes or transpersonal?