"Gestalt" is a German word that is difficult to translate. It refers to a sense of wholeness. You consider the entire subject rather than one particular aspect of it. In dream work, it means expressing the dream from various angles and then integrating them. So to speak, each character in the dream understands it in their own way. Your ''character'' (i.e., you) has one perspective. Gestalt asks the question "Does the dreamer's sense of dream reality fit for all parts of the dream? Usually the answer is no.

What you typically find is that your appreciation of the dream changes greatly after taking into account other parts of the dream. What initially seemed unimportant may now be a crucial factor in the dream.

Gestalt is What Happens When You Watch a Movie

Consider that every time you view a movie, you see events from many points of view. The camera determines what you see and from whose perspective. The director decides whether you are looking directly at the hero, through the hero's eyes, or from some other perspective. That ''shapes'' your understanding of the events. Most movies would be boring if only seen through one pair of eyes

Being: The Gestalt Technique

With dream work, the Gestalt idea is to ''be'' other characters in the dream. It's more than just imagining what they might say or do—it involves taking an extra step and getting inside them. This difference is critical.

Gillian's Dream

I dream I am driving with Chrissie, my former boss to a meeting. I know we haven't considered all our options and I'm worried it won't go well. My boss is exceedingly quiet, not her usual bubbly self.

Now we had Gillian imagine that Chrissie had a dream about her. Here is the dream Gillian told from Chrissie's perspective:

I dream I am heading to an appointment with Gillian, my former assistant. She's brilliant at catching the problems we will encounter but the way she talks about them makes everyone think we will fail. She doesn't get it that it's my job to make it succeed. It's her job to warn me of the difficulties. I need her to do her job and let me do mine. I'm quiet because this is a difficult thing to tell Gillian.

The dreamer would never have seen herself in this light. This is very typical of Gestalt work, Gillian got it that there was a bigger picture. This dream Boss was telling her to express herself without being afraid that everything would fail.

The Limits of Gestalt Work with Dreams

Gestalt is a method that works brilliantly when you have dream characters that are capable of having a dialogue. It doesn't work well in Dream RePlay with angry, mindless characters (for example, monsters intent on killing you, punitive people who intend to put you down). Beyond that very specific limitation -- to avoid using it with negative dream characters -- it's one of the most useful dream work techniques.

You Can Be Any Part of the Dream

Gestalt is not limited to people. You can imagine yourself as the ground on which the dream is taking place. You can fly over the dream and see what it looks like from the air. The only rule is to completely step into the role of the person, place or thing from which you are viewing the dream.

Jack's Dream

I dream I am with my ex-girlfriend Suzie. We are in a room. There is only a square table and she's on one side. I'm on the other. I'm telling her that she lied to me when we were breaking up.

Nothing much happened when the dreamer played the role of Suzie. She was defensive and even though she knew she had lied, she wasn't about to discuss it with Jack.

When Jack became the table top, the dream changed dramatically. From the table's perspective, neither of them was being completely honest and the table hurt when Jack pounded it. The dreamer had never considered this before. It made sense to him that his anger was causing damage. The fact that he focused on Suzie's dishonesty no longer seemed to be the real issue. In some way, he now understood that he had pushed her away and that was something ''under the table.''

Using Gestalt in Your Dream Work

You may have noticed that, in previous columns, we have used the Gestalt technique without labeling it as such. For instance, Alan's perspective in Dream of the Week #1 (http://dreamreplay.com/dreamoftheweek_1.htm) was a Gestalt.

Replaying the dream from different perspectives often acts like a bolt of lightning (and lightening): suddenly the dream fits together in a way that makes more sense.

When you integrate the different perspectives, you have a radically more complete view of the dream.

DreamOfTheWeek.com. You can now use www.dreamoftheweek.com to access past articles. (This makes it easier to tell your friends).

Evening Group Class. Are you interested in a deeper exploration of your dream life? The benefits are remarkable as you actually watch your dream life change. This is a small on-going group that currently meets on Tuesdays (Thursday is also possible). Cost is currently $20 per session. Contact me for more information at davidj@dreamreplay.com or leave a message at (510) 644 2369.

Looking for A New Location. David's Saturday a.m. group is moving. If you can suggest any location in the East Bay that is open to the public and has room for 5-10 people, please contact me at davidj@dreamreplay.com.

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