Integrating the Complementary Therapies of Energy Psychology and Dreamwork – the Dream to Freedom Method

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the integration of dreamwork and Energy Psychology (EP) can enhance outcomes in the treatment of a range of psychological disorders. The therapeutic process often begins with a peeling away of emotional layers until underlying issues surface. When utilizing dreamwork, however, it is possible to begin at a deeper level. Because dreams address salient unresolved emotional conflicts, dreamwork can quickly bring into consciousness previously unconscious emotional issues that are at the source of psychological difficulties. Utilizing techniques from energy psychology to process the material that emerges in dreams is a particularly potent way of engaging the emotional content of the dream and utilizing it to inform the dreamer’s self-understanding and direction. Energy Psychology, in its most frequently utilized format, the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), combines imaginal exposure and cognitive restructuring with the somatic stimulation of acupuncture points by tapping on them. More than 100 clinical trials demonstrate the unusual speed and clinical efficacy of EFT. The authors of this paper have combined dreamwork and EFT into a therapeutic protocol we call the Dream to Freedom (DTF) method. In addition to providing theoretical underpinnings of the approach, we present details of the use of the DTF protocol with seven subjects. In each case, underlying stressful memories triggering psychological symptoms were revealed, and the stress reaction to those specific memories was minimized or eliminated. In all seven case reports, DTF appears to have provided a systematic protocol for enhancing the emotional problem-solving function of dreams, providing each subject with insight towards creating future action steps.