Change the dream, then carry the change into waking life

Imagine how you would change the dream if you could, then translate that change into one step in your real life.

Perché funziona

In Hill's action stage the dreamer is asked how they would change the dream if they could, and then how that change could be carried into waking life; the dreamer can also continue the dream to imagine what they would like to happen next. Re-authoring the dream gives the dreamer a felt sense of agency inside the image, and translating it into a specific action keeps the insight from staying abstract.

Come farlo

1. Ask yourself: if I could change this dream in any way, what would I change?
2. Write the new version of the key scene, or continue the dream past where it ended.
3. Ask what the change might correspond to in your waking life: a conversation, a boundary, a habit, a choice.
4. Pick one small step from that and decide when you will take it.

Prove scientifiche

The action stage is set out in Hill's 1996 book and her 2004 edited volume. In a study where 25 volunteer clients each had a therapist-facilitated and a self-guided session using Hill's model, in random order, clients reported more action-related gains, more insight and greater depth from the therapist-facilitated session, and 88% preferred it. (observational)

The action stage has not been tested on its own, and the study comparing formats suggests that working through Hill's model alone yields less than working with a trained therapist. Rewriting a distressing or recurring dream means spending time inside it: if you feel flooded, lose track of where you are, or the images will not settle, stop and take the dream to a trained therapist rather than continuing alone.

Fonti

• Hill, C. E. (1996). Working with Dreams in Psychotherapy. Guilford Press.
• Hill, C. E. (Ed.). (2004). Dream Work in Therapy: Facilitating Exploration, Insight, and Action. American Psychological Association.
• Heaton, K. J., Hill, C. E., Peterson, D. A., Rochlen, A. B., & Zack, J. S. (1998). A comparison of therapist-facilitated and self-guided dream interpretation sessions. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 45(1), 115-122.

Errore comune

Changing the dream into something pleasant and stopping there. The point of the change is what it suggests you could do differently when awake; without that second step it stays a daydream.