Dream Sharing & Dream Groups

The Dream Network Journal published the following ethical guidelines for dreamworkers and dreamsharing groups in Volume 13, Issue 1, and different versions in subsequent issues.

An ethical dreamworker:

1. Encourages those who have not yet discovered, or who are yet only beginning to discover, the magic, revelation and enrichment which comes from valuing their dreams. Not that they may know our dreams, but that they may know their own. John Ashbaugh

2. Honors the dream, the dreamer and the dreamsharing process. Ingrid M. Luke

3. Encourages any dreamer's personal connection to, relationship with and understanding of dreams and the mystery from which dreams emerge. Catherine Knapp

4. Offers encouragement to the dreamer for their efforts, knowing that any effort will bear fruit. Regards all dreams and dreamers as sacred and as such, treats them with respect, joy and humility. Jan Janzen

5. Engages in the Art of Listening. This involves listening to all that a dreamer says and above all, listening while keeping one's own ideas about the dream on hold. Montague Ullman

6. Respects the integrity of dreamers; their vulnerability, weaknesses and sexuality are to be honored, never exploited. It is often useful to preface any remark with the idea: "if it were my dream... " Jeremy Taylor

7. Honors and respects the dreamer's anonymity and confidentiality. Will Phillips

8. Intuits the dreamer's boundaries and does not push the dreamer to go beyond what feels safe. Deborah Jay Hillman

9. Keeps in mind that dreams are more a mystery to behold than a puzzle to solve. Dreams are about wonder, awe and imagination, in lieu of logic and literal thinking. Chuck Freeman

10. Enters a relationship with a dreamer and a dream, holding regard for the mystery of the dream process and respect for the sacredness of the individual's personal discovery of truth. Valerie Meluskey

11. Refrains from telling the dreamer what his or her dream means; we never know anyway. When we feel that we do know, at best we know what it would mean if it were our own dream. Dick McLeester

12. Recognizes that dreams can be viewed as holograms, offering various levels of meaning and significance. Therefore, our challenge, when working with dreams is to continue searching for the layers within the dream and to allow the dream to "live" with us. Rosemary Watts

13. Encourages each member in a dream group to take responsibility for the healthy functioning of the group. This includes: setting rules for the group; speaking up when rules are broken and/or the group is not working for you; checking from time to time to make sure the group's process is working for everyone. Micki Seltzer

14. Relaxes when working on another's dream and trusts that s/he does not have to know the answers. Karen Surman Paley

15. Respects the dreamer's right to end the dreamwork at any time. Will Phillips