Book Title: A Clinician’s Guide to Dream Therapy
Year Published: 2019
A Clinician’s Guide to Dream Therapy
A Clinician’s Guide to Dream Therapy demystifies the process of working with dreams by providing both a grounding in the current science of dreaming as well as a simple, practical approach to clinical dream work.
In addition to a survey of the current science and neuroscience of dreaming, this book includes clinical examples of specific techniques with detailed transcripts and follow-up commentary. Chapters cover how to work with PTSD nightmares and how to use experiential dreamwork techniques drawn from current neuroscience to engender lasting change. Readers will be able to discuss their clients’ dream material with confidence, armed with an approach that helps them collaboratively tap into the inherent power for change found in every dream.
Backed by research, common factors analysis and neuroscience, the approaches described in this book provide a clear map for clinicians and others interested in unlocking the healing power inherent in dreams.
About Leslie Ellis
Pacifica Program Graduate: M.A. Counselling Psychology
Dr. Leslie Ellis is a leading expert in the use of somatic approaches in psychotherapy, in particular for working with dreams, nightmares and the effects of trauma. She is the author of A Clinician’s Guide to Dream Therapy (Routledge, 2019) and offers many training opportunities in embodied, experiential dreamwork based on her book. She has a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, with a specialization in somatic approaches. Her dissertation on using focusing-oriented therapy to treat PTSD for refugees with recurrent nightmares won the Ernest Hartmann award from the International Association for the Study of Dreams.
Dr. Ellis has a Masters from Pacifica Graduate Institute and worked as a therapist in private practice in Vancouver, BC for more than 20 years. Her approach to therapy combines Jungian and focusing-oriented techniques. She was adjunct faculty at Adler University where she taught clinical skills and developed a trauma course for the Masters of Counselling program. She is a Certifying Coordinator and past president of The International Focusing Institute. For many years she has offered a Vancouver-based certification program for practicing therapists who want to incorporate focusing-oriented therapy techniques into their practice.
Dr. Ellis has published numerous book chapters and journal articles on the use of focusing and dreamwork in psychotherapy. She has also presented her work to a worldwide audience. For example, she offered a keynote address for the 2020 online conference for the International Association for the Study of Dreams, has presented on nightmares at MIT and was a featured speaker and panelist at the 2020 FOT (Focusing-Oriented Therapy) Conference. She offers courses through The Jung Platform and is vice president of the International Association for the Study of Dreams.
