Dreams, Art and Well-Being: A Positive Psychology Approach to Bringing Awareness to Dreams
Graduation Date
Fall 2013
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy
Degree Granting Institution
Notre Dame de Namur University
Program Name
Art Therapy
Dean
John Lemmon, PhD
First Reader
Amy Backos, PhD, ATR-BC
Second Reader
Jennifer Harrison, PsyD, DAAETS, ATR-BC
Abstract
This mixed model research explores how expressing one’s dreams through the art and journaling process will allow for unique insights, or even a more in-depth understanding of one’s self and life circumstances. Seventeen participants were recruited from a small University in the San Francisco Bay Area to participate in a group to assess if individuals who pay greater attention to their dreams through journaling and art will demonstrate an increase in perceptiveness regarding the potential significance of their dreams in their daily lives. Pre- and post-tests were administered to understand if any changes occurred in the participants due to the act of paying greater attention to one’s dreams. For each individual dream they experienced, participants created one piece of artwork paired with a written description. The results from this quantitative and qualitative measures indicate that the process of integrating the creative act of dreaming with participant’s daily lives through the attentiveness, art making and journaling in certain participants did lead to changed views about the significance of dreaming as well as insights about the participants’ life situations. The study reinforces the usefulness of creating art and journaling around dreams both as a therapeutic technique and more broadly, as a potentially life-enhancing practice for individuals in their personal growth.