Dreams and recovery from trauma.

Bulkeley, Kelly (2003).

Dreams of Healing: Transforming Nightmares Into Visions of Hope. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, Paperback. xvi + 207 pp. $16.95. ISBN 0-0891-4153-1.

Kelly Bulkeley is a Visiting Scholar at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and Director of the Dream Studies Program at John F. Kennedy University. His scholarship focuses on dream research, education, and consulting. He was president of the Association for the Study of Dreams 1997-1998, was a senior editor for Dreaming (now discontinued), and serves as secretary-treasurer and newsletter editor for the Person, Culture, and Religion Group of the American Academy of Religion.

Kelly Bulkeley earned his Ph.D. in Religion and Psychological Studies in 1992 at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he was strongly influenced by Chicago's prominent integrator, Don Browning (1987), and specifically by Browning's notion of metaphors of ultimacy. Bulkeley has focused his career as an independent scholar on the interplay of psychology, spirituality, and culture in dreaming, and few contemporary religious scholars have contributed so extensively to the recent dream literature. Although Dreams of Healing stands by itself and targets a lay audience, the professional reader may appreciate it best in the context of Bulkeley's previous works, which includes An Introduction to the Psychology of Dreaming (1997), the edited volume Among All These Dreamers: Essays on Dreaming and Modern Society (1996), the parenting book, Dreamcatching: Every Parent's Guide to Exploring and Understanding Children's Dreams and Nightmares (Bulkeley & Siegel, 1998), and numerous articles in religious and psychological journals.

Much of Bulkeley's work focuses on dreams and religion. In The Wilderness of Dreams (1994) Bulkeley provides an ambitious overview of the literature on dreams and dreaming that promises to be a classic in the tradition of Richard M. Jones (1970), who bridged the gap between dream interpretation and dream physiology in The New Psychology of Dreaming. Bulkeley (1994) describes eight paths into the wilderness of dreams, with a representative thinker from each tradition: psychoanalysis (Sigmund Freud); surrealism (Andre Breton); analytical psychology (Carl Jung); content analysis (Calvin Hall); neuroscience (J. Allen Hobson); lucid dreaming (Stephene LaBerge); anthropology (Barbara Tedlock); and cognitive psychology (Harry Hunt). He then develops a hermeneutic of dream interpretation based on the phenomenological approach of Hans-Georg Gadamer (1960/1975), and examines religious dreams in western culture through the lens of root metaphors, which express our ultimate existential concerns, and provide religious meanings to orient our lives (Bulkeley, 1994, p.145). In Spiritual Dreaming Bulkeley (1995) further explores dreams that bring people experientially closer to the powers of the sacred and that speak to their ultimate existential concerns (p. 3). He explores common contents and experiences of spiritual dreams: dreams of the dead; dreams of snakes; dreams of God, the gods, and other supernatural beings (p. 3); nightmares; flying dreams; sexual dreams; and lucid dreams. He then examines the influence of spiritual dreams on creative art and on healing, and the ability to prophecy the future. Finally, he examines dream incubation rituals, dream initiation ceremonies, and the enriched spiritual world-views emerging from dreams. He includes two lengthy appendices in which he investigates dream hermeneutics and classification systems and the influence dreams have had on religious and philosophical conceptions of the soul (p. 5). Bulkeley (2000) popularized these ideas in Transforming Dreams: Learning Spiritual Lessons From the Dreams You Never Forget.

Bulkeley (1999) continued his scholarly interdisciplinary exploration of dreams and dreaming in Visions of the Night: Dreams, Religion, and Psychology, a volume he'd planned to title, in the spirit of William James, The Varieties of Dream Experiences. There, he explores the role of dreaming in human development, especially the development of the capacity for ima ginative play, and wonders what society should do to educate its members about the nature and potential of dreaming experience. He inquires into why dreams may respond directly and creatively to the experiences of crisis, trauma, suffering, and loss, and how cultural traditions have incorporated these healing powers of dreams. He delves into the relationship of dreaming to politics, authority, and rebellion and speculates on ways that dreams reflect and challenge intrapsychic, geopolitical, and cosmic/theological power structures in the dreamer's life. And he wonders if it is ever possible to know with certainty whether our dreams are revealing valuable spiritual truths or merely deceiving us, exploring the hermeneutic principles required to traverse the dream realm. Tantalizing chapter titles include "Dreams and Environmental Ethics," "Gods," "REMS," and "What Neurology Has to Say About the Religious Meanings of Dreams," "The Evil Dreams of Gilgamesh: Interpreting Dreams in Mythological Texts," "Wisdom's Refuge in the Night: Dreams in The Maharahhta, The Rammanya, and in Richard III," "Dreamily Deconstructing the Dream Factory: The Wizard of Oz and Nightmare on Elm Street," "Dreaming in a Totalitarian Society: A Winnicottian Reading of Charlotte Beradt's The Third Reich of Dreams," "Dreaming within Films," "Films within Dreams" and "Dreaming in Russian, August 1991." The book also features a series of bibliographic essays.

Bulkeley wrote Dreams of Healing (2003) in part as a response to the tragedy of September 11, 2001, and the book is a welcome addition to the limited literature on dreams and trauma (see Barrett, 1996; Lansky & Bley, 1995; Share, 1994). In the first chapter Bulkeley summarizes the symptoms associated with the diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and introduces the patient Nan, a car accident survivor whose dreams are discussed throughout the book. He then discusses the ripple effect, and the fact that the psychological damage from communal disasters usually extends far beyond those who suffer direct physical or economic harm, wreaking havoc in the lives of people who are already existing at the edge of their coping abilities (p. 25). He illustrates this chapter with dreams related to Ground Zero, and includes a discussion of dreams following natural disasters and dreams in the mourning process. In the third chapter he focuses on the fear of new dangers and the heightened vigilance that follows a life-changing traumatic experience. He illustrates this with Nan's dreams of problematic nurturance (pp. 60-63). Dreams become rehearsals for the creation of psychologically safe spaces.

In the fourth chapter Bulkeley discusses falling and flying, and the special category of dreams of crashing planes. He argues that dreams may be a way to cope with the awareness that the old world has been destroyed (p. 81). He concludes the chapter with his own dream named "Crashing into the Dominican College Area" which includes a dream typical of the more attack variety that put him directly in the place of the passengers on the hijacked 9/11 planes and yet reassures him that he could still rely on the elemental forces of life to remain strong and standing (p. 84). In the fifth chapter, he explores dreams related to biological warfare, anthrax, and other dreams of disease, some of which may reflect emotional reactions to tragedy. He describes a body-centered approach to dream-work inspired by Montague Ullmann, Jeremy Taylor, and Robbie Bosnak. In chapter six he addresses the role of unconscious racial profiling and the bad guy dreams associated with the Jungian shadow. In Nan's dreams the shadow is represented by her ex-husband Phil, as the dream confronts her with emotional remnants of the past. He also analyzes his own shadow dream that confronts him with the fear that he is trying to destroy society, the possibility that explorations into the unconscious can bring harm.

In chapter seven Bulkeley examines crises of conscience and dreams that depict war protests, family conflicts, and being on the side of the enemy. Dreams may reflect one's own inner wars, and they may affirm that which has integrity and authenticity. In chapter eight he tackles the difficult topic of precognitive dreams, the dreams of people who saw it coming. Such dreams are difficult to explain, but unique features can be identified: they are unusually intense emotionally; they appear to be triggered by a parenting instinct; they may occur when an event of collective archetypal power is about to happen (p. 165). He then counsels caretakers on how to help dreamers deal with the sense of guilt, moral weakness, or failed responsibility that may result (p. 166). Finally, he presents Nan's dreams of hope, the dreams that lead her back to a sense of independence and personal integrity (p. 191). He finishes the chapter with a summary of a discussion with Dan Coughlin, then the Chaplain of the U. S. House of Representatives, which led him to conclude that we cannot yet count on Congress to encourage or support greater public awareness of dreaming. Bulkeley ends the book with a dream sharing protocol and a brief commentary on the current understanding of dream functioning, rejecting the notion that post-traumatic nightmares are the key to a general theory of dream functioning.

Bulkeley provides a highly readable introduction to dreams and trauma. The curious reader will find an essential bibliography at the end of each chapter, and extensive supplementary endnotes. He presents not only Nan's dreams and some of his own, but also those of two-dozen other men and women. He takes a nuanced position on the value of dream interpretation, bringing a healthy skepticism to the interpretive process. My one disagreement with Bulkeley is the basic premise that the world changed in some significant way on September 11, 2001. I felt then, and do now, that God has been weeping over the signs of our brokenness, and our cruelty to others who are part of the Kingdom of God, since the time of the Creation and the Fall. The events of 9/11 penetrated the defenses of those Americans who had not yet come to grips with the Problem of Evil and the nature of suffering. But even those who did not find 9/11 uniquely traumatizing may find this book helpful as they struggle with the traumatic events that create opportunities for further transformation and spiritual growth.

REFERENCES

Barrett, D. (Ed.). (1996). Trauma and dreams. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Browning, D. (1987). Religious thought and the modern psychologies: A critical conversation in the theology of culture. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.

Bulkeley, K. (1994). The wilderness of dreams. Exploring the religious meaning of dreams in modern western culture. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Bulkeley, K. (1995). Spiritual dreaming: A cross-cultural and historical journey. New York: Paulist Press.

Bulkeley, K. (Ed.). (1996). Among all these dreamers: Essays on dreaming and modern society. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Bulkeley, K. (1997). An introduction to the psychology of dreaming. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Bulkeley, K. (1999). Visions of the night: Dreams, religion, and psychology. Albany: State University of New York Press

Bulkeley, K. (2000). Transforming dreams: Learning spiritual lessons from the dreams you never forget. New York: Wiley. [Spanish translation by Alicia Sanchez Millet published Barcelona: Ediciones Urano, 2001]

Bulkeley, K. (Ed.). (2001). Dreams: A reader on religious, cultural, and psychological dimensions of dreaming. New York: Palgrave.

Bulkeley, K., & Siegel, A. B. (1998). Dreamcatching: Every parent's guide to exploring and understanding children's dreams and nightmares. New York: Three Rivers Press. [Spanish translation by Elena Manso de Zuniga published Madrid: Espasa Calpe, 2000]

Gadamer, H.-G. (1975). Truth and method (G. Barden & J. Cumming, Trans.). New York: Seabury Press. (Original work published 1960)

Jones, R. M. (1970). The new psychology of dreaming. New York: Grune & Stratton.

Lansky, M. R., & Bley, C. R. (1995). Posttraumatic nightmares: Psychodynamic explorations. Hillsdale: Analytic Press.

Share, L. (1994). If someone speaks, it gets lighter: Dreams and the reconstruction of infant trauma. Hillsdale, NJ: The Analytic Press.

Reviewed by HENDRIKA VANDE KEMP, Ph.D.