Book Review: Existential Psychotherapy and the Interpretation of Dreams

Existential Psychotherapy and the Interpretation of Dreams by Clark Moustakas, Jason Aronson, New Jersey (1994) 251.50 HB.

For several years I have been interested in gaining a phenomenological-existential understanding of the dreaming process. This naturally led me to a study of Medard Boss contribution. Given the somewhat inaccessible nature of Boss' writing I considered attempting to write my own simplified version of a phenomenological approach to the dreaming state. I was therefore extremely intrigued when I discovered Clark Moustakas had published a book on the interpretation of dreams from an existential viewpoint. Given this background I approached the book with a great deal of interest, and I was anticipating a stimulating read. Unfortunately my, albeit high, hopes were not fulfilled.

Moustakas has essentially written two books. The first five chapters of his text are devoted to his very individual account of existential psychotherapy. The 'second book' begins with a brief introduction to Freud's work on the analysis of dreams. This is followed by an overview of the Jungian, the Gestalt and Ullman's phenomenological approach to dream interpretation. It is only in the final two chapters that Moustakas discusses his existential model for interpreting dreams.

Moustakas is President of the Center for Humanistic Studies in Detroit and throughout the book Moustakas' basically humanistic orientation is obvious. During discussion of his model of existential psychotherapy Moustakas frequently refers to Heidegger's works and clearly explicates some difficult existential-phenomenological concepts, for example: Being, Existence, Language, Caring. Moustakas acknowledges the ideas represent his own views, interpretations and emphases. Yet having allowed for this, I was still surprised at the extent to which he managed to give all his discussion such a distinctive humanistic flavour.

Throughout the text Moustakas makes continual reference to our potentials for growth and possibilities for self-fulfillment. On the one hand Moustakas appears to concur with Heidegger's idea that 'one is essentially guilty throughout life' yet he also suggests 'authentic choice offers a way of resolving guilt'(p.37). Similarly he recognises that 'anxiety is rooted in human existence' and at the same time believes we can find 'a way out of inauthenticity, anxiety, and guilt, a way forward to actualizations of intentions and talents (p.3). Anxiety is both the 'dominant mood of inauthenticity' (p.38) and also 'in anxiety, the possibility for knowing oneself is present, as is the possibility for making authentic choices' (p.39). The seemingly constant desire to stress the positive, to emphasise growth and development, leads to such contradictory assertions. In chapter four Moustakas provides us with ten principles that underlie the processes of existential psychotherapy. I found little to quarrel with in these principles and I appreciated his 'commitment to an anticipatory caring, a human presence and responsiveness that supports the individual's ability-to-be and responsibility for decision making' (p.44). Moustakas also emphasises that the primary 'method' of existential psychotherapy is that of the Being-with of the therapist and the person-in-therapy. Drawing on the work of Binswanger and Boss he suggests 'the therapist is a human presence, not only accepting the letting-be of the other but also participating in the unfolding process' (p.65). Despite its clumsiness, I particularly liked the way Moustakas referred to the client/patient as the 'person-in-therapy'. An egalitarian stance that I am sure would be appreciated by those who describe themselves as existential therapists.

The final two chapters of this book describe Moustakas' existential approach to understanding and interpreting dreams. Moustakas presents a model incorporating five procedures. The first he calls Incubating and Recording the Dream. Here a series of rituals are suggested to encourage the remembrance of dreams. For example: deep breathing exercises, relaxing music and focusing on a dream theme for the night. Whether such contrived procedures are necessary is uncertain and they may well have a radical effect on the dream content. What happened to 'letting-be'? The second procedure involves Determining the Horizons of the Dream. 'Horizons' are dream phenomena (feelings, thoughts, people, etc), particularly those that stand out and matter. Why the word 'Horizon' was introduced was not entirely clear and it appeared to add unnecessary confusion. Having determined the dream horizons the third procedure is Clustering the Horizons and Deriving Themes. Once the core themes of the dream are established the fourth procedure is to discover The Existential A Priori. This is determined 'from the original "main theme" of a dream and the core themes that are derived from the horizons and themes' (p.122). These procedures, though to some extent reminiscent of Boss' phenomenological approach, appeared rather cumbersome and lacked the simplicity of Boss' tripartite question (the Where, Whom or What, and How of the dream).

The final process in understanding and interpreting dreams focuses on constructing The Course of Action. The course of action is dependent upon the Existential A Priori as it relates to current life. The dreamer is encouraged to explore future possibilities in connection with the Existential A Priori. The focus is on future ways of being for the dreamer - new possibilities for living. Here again the emphasis is on growth and development and demonstrates a basically humanistic orientation. This book provides a useful introduction to some aspects of existential thinking and several Heideggerian concepts are clearly explicated. The model for dream understanding and interpretation, whilst drawing on existential-phenomenological thought, is essentially for use within a humanistically oriented psychotherapy. Nevertheless it is a clearly written, highly accessible text which gives practical guidelines for working with dreams.

Sarah Young