Freud claimed that dreams provide unique insights into human motivation. The discovery of the brain mechanisms of REM sleep (between the 1950s and 70s) cast considerable doubt on this: REM dreaming occurs automatically in 90-minute cycles and it is generated by a mindless part of the brainstem. This lecture will present findings which show that dreaming is not in fact isomorphic with REM sleep, that it does not occur automatically, and that it is generated by a part of the brain that is deeply implicated in emotion, motivation, and memory. Recent findings will also be presented from an ongoing study which is seeking to establish the biological function of dreaming.

Chairwork is a highly emotional and very powerful experiential psychotherapy that is currently undergoing a renaissance as clinicians all over the world are beginning to integrate it into their practices.

Originally created by Dr. Jacob Moreno, the creator of Psychodrama, it was made famous in the 1960s by Dr. Frederick “Fritz” Perls, the creator of Gestalt Therapy. Chairwork, at its essence, involves: (a) inviting a patient to sit in one chair and to have an imaginary encounter with someone from the past, the present, or the future in the chair opposite; and/or (b) using several chairs to create dialogues among different parts of the self—with love, desire, fear, and courage often emerging as core themes.

This presentation will include an introduction to the Four Dialogues – which is a crystallization of over 50 years of Chairwork Practice.

Using Chairwork to:

— Engage with Difficult Relationships;

— Heal from Grief and Loss; and

— Work through Traumatic Memories

This will be followed by live case consultation/demonstrations with volunteers by Amanda Garcia Torres, LMHC & Dr Scott Kellogg, PhD.

We all experience suffering and confusion that we intuitively know to be unnecessary. We also experience moments of openness and inherent well being. Western psychotherapy focuses on the relief which comes as we bring our young out-of-date strategies of self-care into our more current adult capacities and realities. We discover that feelings such as fear, grief, rage, and powerlessness that were in fact overwhelming to us as children can now be acknowledged and experienced as adults. Buddhism asserts that our most basic and intimate experience is that of openness – always present but usually out of our conscious experience. Rather than “what” we are experiencing, we investigate “how we are relating” to what we experience.

Engaging from open awareness, we find no evidence of problems or division. We discover that we are always living in a never resolvable stream of thoughts, feelings, and sensations because we are always and only living in our immediate experience. We will probably engage most skillfully in our lives if we train ourselves to be conscious, embodied and kind to this endless display. Therapy invites us to come out of our identification with our conditioned history. Buddhism invites us to come out of any drama about a personal identity. Both approaches have benefits and limitations. Together, as an on-going dialogue, they offer a powerful potential for less unnecessary suffering and for greater freedom.