Abstract
This paper presents one leadership style within a self-psychological approach to working with dreams in group psychotherapy. It stresses an empathic attunement, the creation of safety, and an experience-near playful relationship. “Playful” is not used lightly here. It is used in the spirit of Winnicott's intermediate space where a mother suspends questions of what is real or not real and what is me and not me. Freud's analogy to a playspace forms a metaphor for the creation of a special atmosphere in a group, or for that matter in individual work as well, that encourages exploration, risk taking, and vulnerability. Working with dreams in this playspace deepens the curative process, not only for the dreamer, but for the entire group.
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Livingston, M.S. Self Psychology, Dreams and Group Psychotherapy: Working in the Playspace. Group 25, 15–26 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011064522495
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011064522495