Mirrors in the Dark

Led by Sharon Terry

An Ongoing Play in Three Acts

Act 1:   Basics of GAP Dream Work

Act 2:   Dreaming Ourselves Awake

Act 3:   Dreams in the Open Seat

“A dream is a wish your heart makes when you’re fast asleep.” 

                                                                         ~Cinderella a la Disney

This is an extended course designed to offer students a concentrated period to focus on their dreams. Dreams flourish with attention. This course is divided into Acts so that students with experience in GAP dream work can participate in single Acts or combine them.

Act 1:

March 2, 2024 from 10 AM to 5 PM

March 6, 2024 from 5 PM to 8 PM

March 10, 2024 from 10 AM to 5 PM

 

Act 2:

March 30, 2024 from 10 AM to 5 PM

April 2, 2024 from 5 PM to 8 PM

April 14, 2024 from 10 AM to 5 PM

 

Act 3:

April 28, 2024 from 10 AM to 6 PM

Throughout May, 2024, Open Seat gatherings continue. Ample dates will be offered to accommodate three open seats at each meeting. Witnesses welcome.

 

In gestalt dream work, as in all forms of gestalt practice, there is no analysis or interpretation. You, as your Inner Dreamer, are respected as the expert on your dreams. By becoming images in your dream, you can discover the messages, unfinished business and new possibilities you are bringing to awareness. This approach is also fruitful when applied to daydreams, stories, totems, memories, and all forms of imagery. If you don’t recall nighttime dreams, any of these doors give access to new information.

 

Working with dreams can take us anywhere: from the personal to the transpersonal, from problem solving to sacred space, from clearing to creating. By opening to the nuances of image, following sensation into movement, and exploring associations and meaning, we often arrive at insight. Who is that Inner Dreamer? How can we access this capacity to reveal what is true with such artistry? Your inner dreamer is wise enough to understand life’s complexity and mirror it back to you with simplicity.

 

I believe that in a dream, we have a clear existential message of what’s missing in our lives, what we avoid doing and living…

~Fritz Perls, Gestalt Therapy Verbatim

 

In this mix-and-match webinar format, we will be seeding our dreams, harvesting them over time, and supporting each other’s dreamlife. For dreamwork to ripen, participants need to stay steadily engaged with their dreams and commit to ongoing sharing of images with other participants. Recording dream images daily for the two weeks before you join the program is a required preparation. In between webinars, participants will use gestalt practice to work with their dreams through writing and sharing.  If you are ready to make these commitments, we welcome your participation.

 

Act 1: Basics of GAP Dream Work. Coming to dream work, we will use the basic GAP tools of contact, enter, and express. We will practice exploring each dream image as parts of us. Telling the dream in the present tense, embodying figures and images in the dream, and allowing dialogue between images will contribute to discovery. Teaching, demos, and discussion will be interspersed with practice in groups of two or three. Open Seat dreamwork will be demonstrated. Participating in Act 1 makes you eligible to participate in Acts 2 and 3.

Act 1 is open to any students who have taken both Intro and Intermediate GAP workshops with Sharon over the past three years or those who have worked with Chris and/or Sharon in ways that provide an equivalent background in the recent past.

 

Act 2: Dreaming Ourselves Awake. Integrating night dreams into our waking hours, and actualizing dream images in our living space takes this relationship to a whole new level. In this Act, we will utilize life-size body mapping, collages, altars, and dream councils as ways to integrate our inner dreamer more fully. Living with our dreams in this way will give us more familiarity with them and also allow them to reveal more to us. There will be partner practice between the webinars.

Act 2 is open to those who completed Act 1 or any students who have completed an extended GAP dream course with Chris and/or Sharon in recent years.

 

Act 3: Dreams in the Open Seat. Bringing a dream to the open seat, with experienced reflection and a circle of witnesses, potentizes the dream process. In the daylong webinar, several participants will have the opportunity to do a dream open seat session. Some dyad and triad practice will give everyone a chance to play. That webinar will be followed by a series of 4.5-hour Zoom meetings scheduled during the following weeks, where participants can sign up for a dream open seat. These 4.5-hour meetings will each include 3 open seats. Meeting dates will offer a variety of options to meet various schedules. All group members will be welcome to come as witnesses to these sessions but are not required to attend. Depending on the number of students, Chris will teach in the day long and/or the triad open seats.

Act 3 is open to any student who has participated in Act 1 or a GAP dream course with Chris and/or Sharon in recent years.

This is an extended course designed to offer students a concentrated period to focus on their dreams. Dreams flourish with attention. This course is divided into Acts so that students with experience in GAP dream work can participate in single Acts or combine them.

Combinations and eligibility:

Act 1 only: $450. Open to any students who have taken Intro and Intermediate: An Intro to Open Seat, or who have worked extensively with Chris and/or Sharon over the past three years.

Act 2 only: $450. tudents who have completed Act 1 or an extended GAP dream course with Chris and/or Sharon in the past are eligible to participate.

Act 3 only: $350. Students who have completed Act 1 and/or participated in a GAP dream course with Chris and/or Sharon in the past are eligible to participate.

Act 1 and Act 2: $800. Open to any students who have taken GAP Intro and Intermediate: An Intro to Open Seat, or who have worked extensively with Chris and/or Sharon.

Act 2 and Act 3: $725. Students who have completed an extended GAP dream course with Chris and Sharon in the past three years are eligible to participate.

Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3: $1,050. Any student who has taken Intro and Intermediate can participate in this extended exploration of dreams.

 

Throughout May, 2024, Open Seat gatherings continue. Ample dates will be offered to accommodate three open seats at each meeting. Witnesses welcome.

 

Ongoing:  Beginning in May 2024, we will facilitate those who wish to have ongoing partner practice and periodic group practice in dream work. Details will be available in April.

 

Limited financial aid is available. Contact Sharon Terry if you have a need for financial aid.

Address questions about prerequisites or anything else to Sharon Terry.

To register, complete this form and send the deposit indicated by the combination of Acts you chose.