Phenomenological dream work in traumatic grief: Psychotherapeutic process analysis

The aim of this study is to examine in depth the psychotherapy process involving traumatic grief-focused phenomenological dream work developed based on the phenomenological dream-self approach. While developing the stages of the dream work, qualitative research as a preliminary study was designed in which a detailed examination of the meaning given to the dream experience in Turkish society was carried out to take cultural contexts into account. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 adult participants, who were not mental health professionals, and the data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. There was an overarching pattern in the participants' narratives that waking and dreaming experiences are often directly related and mutually influencing "life experiences." In line with the themes developed in the preliminary study, the scopes and stages of the phenomenological dream work focused on traumatic grief were determined, and it was used as an intervention in psychotherapy with a client with intense grief experience following traumatic loss. Psychotherapy transcripts were analyzed by reflexive thematic analysis method, and the changing pattern in the context of waking and dream experiences was examined in depth. In addition to the experiences accompanying the whole psychotherapy process, which led to a vicious cycle within and between each other, a striking feature of the subjective traumatic grief experience was that it was a complex intertwined process with a fluctuating course. On the other hand, during the psychotherapy process, a pattern was observed ranging from a predominant pattern of meaninglessness about life, reluctance, difficulty in accepting the loss, and loss-related re-experiencing, to an increase in internalization of the loss and life motivation, and a decrease in avoidance behaviors with the realization of individual needs. In conclusion, phenomenological dream work in psychotherapy, including waking and dream experiences both of which are experiences of the self, may provide a holistic approach to traumatic grief.