Dream Work Treatment of Nightmares Using Transactional Analysis

Abstract

Little attention has been given to dreamwork in the transactional analysis literature, yet dreams can be powerful symbolic statements of a client's emotional processes and can serve as clear indicators of the direction psychotherapy might usefully take. This is particularly true of nightmares, which can be seen as the psyche's equivalent to physical pain in the body. Nightmares are often rooted in historical trauma, neglect, or abuse, compounded by Child survival decisions, but they also arise directly out of traumatic experience in adult life. This article contends that combining transactional analysis and simple action methods adapted from psychodrama can be effective in empowering clients to make redecisions; to break the cycle of rackets, games, and script beliefs; and to reduce repetitive posttrauma nightmares. The transactional analysis literature on dreams is briefly reviewed, and several nightmares are described using transactional analysis concepts and a practical dreamwork process. Connections are made to Berne's (1947/1971) concept of physis and James's (James & James, 1992) concept of the inner core.