From reactive to proactive dreaming: A cognitive-narrative dream manual

Abstract

Most traditional approaches to dream work in psychotherapy have conceptualized dreams as reactive narratives of individual's waking life. The objective of this article is to show how a cognitive narrative approach can contribute to the use of dreams as proactive constructions for waking life. The article begins with a discussion of the role of dream work in the history of psychotherapy as well as its role in the birth and development of cognitive therapy. Constructivist approaches to cognitive therapy, as illustrated by cognitive-narrative psychotherapy, are presented as an alternative way for the use of dream work in psychotherapy. The article concludes with a description of how the cognitive-narrative approach to dream work can be used in psychotherapy.