Dreaming the dream forward

Active imagination applied to dreams and nightmares

“Nothing that feels bad is ever the last step.”
Eugene Gendlin, Focusing

A pay-what-you-can offering May 4, 2023

My free webinar offerings, which cover key elements of experiential dreamwork and focusing, are so well-received, I have another one to share. In this session, I will discuss the transformational practice of re-entering a dream and allowing it to carry forward. You will learn:

How to help your client safely enter and let a dream continue in a way that is safe, creative and authentic.
Methods of active imagination that can be applied to engaging with dreams.
Why dreaming the dream forward is an essential ingredient in modern nightmare treatment, and how to help nightmare sufferers transform their dream lives.

Dreaming the dream forward

Active imagination applied to dreams and nightmares

“Nothing that feels bad is ever the last step.”
Eugene Gendlin, Focusing

How to help your client safely enter and let a dream continue in a way that is safe, creative and authentic.
Methods of active imagination that can be applied to engaging with dreams.
Why dreaming the dream forward is an essential ingredient in modern nightmare treatment, and how to help nightmare sufferers transform their dream lives.

Focusing founder Eugene Gendlin said that dreams are always unfinished. This is because we tend to wake in the middle of them, especially if they are intense dreams. We tend not to recall dreams that complete. In my decades of dreamwork, I have found there is great value in entering a dream and participating in the process of letting it play forward. This is especially true if we enter the dream with calm, curiosity and a sense of positive expectation. This is not always the attitude people have toward their dreams, but it can be cultivated. For those with disturbing dream lives, this can be healing on many levels.

In this 90-minute session, Dr. Leslie Ellis will introduce some practical ways to cultivate a living relationship with dreams and nightmares. It is aimed at clinicians, but all are welcome. Bring your questions and your dreams – there will be a demonstration of this technique with a volunteer, and some experiential practices.

GET A COPY HERE...

Dreaming the dream forward
Active imagination applied to dreams and nightmares

Recordings of past webinars available...

Previous recordings are available at a nominal fee of $20.

February 2023: An Introduction to Focusing Dreamwork and Finding Help in a Dream
March 2023: An Introduction to Focusing Dream Philosophy and Gendlin’s Bias Control

To see all my offerings at a glance, go to my products page.

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Dr. Leslie Ellis

Dr. Leslie Ellis is a leading expert in the use of experiential and somatic approaches in psychotherapy, in particular for working with dreams, nightmares and the effects of trauma. She is the author of A Clinician’s Guide to Dream Therapy (Routledge, 2020) and offers many training opportunities in embodied, experiential dreamwork. She has a PhD in Clinical Psychology and worked as a therapist in private practice in Vancouver, BC for more than 25 years. For more than 10 years she offered a Vancouver-based focusing certification program for practicing therapists. She now certifies clinicians to work with dreams and nightmares via an online program, and also teaches with the Jung Platform and Polyvagal Institute.

Dr. Leslie Ellis

 5/5

MORE TESTIMONIALS...

I am always trying to improve my programs, so I asked my most recent cohort how their comfort level and ways of working with dreams have changed over the past year as a result of participating in my Embodied Experiential Dreamwork program. It is so gratifying to hear how many deepened and freed up their relationship to dreams.

“This program teaches you a powerful way to work with your own dreams and those of others. My connection to my dream life has deepened considerably as result of this program. I have developed reverence for and love of my dreams, and I feel this has had the secondary impact of me increasing compassion and tenderness towards myself. I also have enjoyed working with others' dreams in group processes. It has brought heart-opening connection during these uncertain times.”

“Now that I’ve had direct experience of doing dreamwork as a client, I know that it works and I have a sense of what it feels like when it does work. I have more trust in the process as well as an intellectual framework and steps in a process that can guide me when doing this work with clients.”

“Now I am less worried about meaning or interpretation and more focused on experience and body sensations. In this new path, I found more creativity.”

“Leslie has a beautiful gift of creating an open and safe place for people to share dreams. Her presentation skills are top-notch. She never seems rushed, and presents in a clear and concise manner. This class was worth every penny. Not a single minute or dollar was wasted. Taking this class was one of the best decisions I ever made.”

“You will increase your confidence to work with your own dreams and the dreams of others. You will have a greater understanding of trauma-related nightmares and how to work with them… and you will be in the hands of an expert in dreams and dreamwork. Leslie is always looking for new research and keeping us updated during the course.”

“Loved it. I really appreciated the quality and content. It helped me grasp the concepts and bring them into practice… Leslie is an excellent instructor whose passion for dream work is contagious!”

“I would recommend this course without reserve. It gave much more confidence going forward with my own and others’ dreamwork.”