Group Dream Interpretation

Abstract A process of group dream interpretation is described, derived from Ullman's (1994, 1996) approach. A dream group allows for deep analysis of a dream in a context of freedom and safety. It also is an excellent training tool for helping psychoanalytic candidates become more comfortable with dreams, the unconscious, and primary process material. The beneficial results of my work with dream groups are contextualized within the findings of other psychoanalysts who use group processes to enable supervision and as a solution to transference-countertransference deadlocks (Burrow, 1927; Wolstein, 1984; Ogden, 2006).

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