Dreamwork

A Spiritual Journey

  • Margaret Bowater
Keywords: dreams, dreamwork, visions, imagery, spirituality, nightmares, post-trauma dreams

Abstract

My passion for dreamwork arose from discovering the power of dreams as a multi-level spiritual process within me and others in 1985 when I joined a group of therapists meeting regularly to explore our dreams. For several years we laughed and cried together as we discovered new insights, challenges, affirmations, and healing. I was inspired by a “big dream” of my own about embarking on a journey of the soul. I studied to learn more about dreams and began leading workshops, seeing with awe how dreams opened windows into everyone’s inner experience, from post-trauma nightmares to perceptive feedback on personal issues to unforgettable mystical visions. I learned to ask simple questions of dreamers and I take continuing delight in seeing the “Aha” in the eyes of clients, students, and colleagues as they make connections and discover new perspectives. From the beginning of psychotherapy, dreamwork in one form or another has been of its essence.

Waitara

I pupū ake taku ngākaunui ki te whakarehu i te kitenga i te awe o te moemoeā pēnei ki tētahi paparanga hātepe wairua i roto i a au me ētahi atu, i te tau 1985, i tōku piringa ki tētahi rōpū kaihaumanu tūtakitaki ai ki te hōpara i ā mātou moemoeā. He maha ngā tau kata tahi, tangi tahi ai mātou ia wā kitea he tirohanga hou, he takinga, he whakakoihanga, he tumahuhanga. Whakahiringa ngākauhia ahau i tētahi pekerangi nui āku. Ka whakawhānuihia ake e au aku akoranga mō tēnei mea te moemoeā ka tīmata ki te taki awheawhe me te kite kaiora i te mahi a te moemoeā ki te whakatuwhera huarahi wheako whakaroto o te katoa, mai i ngā kuku i muri pāmamae ki ngā whakautu hōhonu whakapā ki ngā take whearo ki ngā kitenga māminga. I mōhio au kia noho mahuki ngā pātai, ā, e haere tonu ana te harikoa ki te kite i te taka o te māramatanga ki ngā kanohi o ngā kiritaki, ākonga me ngā hoamahi ia wā puta mai ngā hononga me ngā kitenga hou. Mai i te tīmatanga o te whakaoranga hinengaro, ko te whakarehu me ōna āhua tōna iho.

Published
2014-12-31
How to Cite
Bowater, M. (2014). Dreamwork: A Spiritual Journey. Ata: Journal of Psychotherapy Aotearoa New Zealand, 18(2), 141-147. https://doi.org/10.9791/ajpanz.2014.13