Dreams as a resource in psychosocial counseling

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to identify how advisors (n = 43) are generally positioned to dreaming and working with dreams, and how a possible application could look like in practice. It should also be examined whether female consultants are more likely to involve dreams in the counseling than their male colleagues. For that purpose, consultants from psychosocial contact and counseling centers of the Liga der Freien Wohlfahrtspflege in Germany/Hessen were consulted by post. The study has a quantitative research focus. A qualitative part was also integrated into the study to tap the full potential of the operating experience. In addition to Likert-scales, the questionnaires also offered the opportunity to use own words for an­swering questions concerning dream-work in practice. It turned out that advisors have developed useful ideas (n = 37), which are closely linked to evaluated dream theories, but only 18 consultants have shown a concrete example for this. There were also discrepancies between the generally positive attitude towards dream-work to and their actual application.