Embodied imagination

Domain I · Psychodynamic & depth psychology · Robert Bosnak · 1988

What it is

EI is a post-Jungian, non-interpretive method for working with dreams. It also works with waking memories and, by extension, with symptoms and creative material, which its teachers group together as "involuntary imagination." The therapist guides the client into a light hypnagogic state, and the…

Format

• Format. Usually individual sessions, with the therapist's attention and own body closely attuned to the dreamer. Other formats:
• Groups, which Bosnak has led since 1972.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• The client jumping past the moment. Rewind gently.
• Overusing it. It ends the dreaming state, so use it to dose the work, not as a habit.
• Lingering drowsiness or spaciness. Ground before the client leaves, especially if they are driving.
• The client or therapist wanting closure, or an "aha" that shuts the process down. Bosnak avoids seeking these.
• Projection, which the 2020 review says the therapist must avoid. If the client's report differs from yours, theirs wins.

Problems the guide addresses

• Contraindications and screening
• Can't reach the hypnagogic state (too alert, analytic)
• Falls asleep or too deep
• Talks about the dream instead of being in it; keeps interpreting
• Can't feel or locate body sensations (alexithymia, numbness)
• Refuses or fears entering a figure (perpetrator, monster, repellent figure)
• Overwhelm or flooding mid-session
• Dissociation during the work (glazing, losing contact)
• Painful states keep dropping out; seeking a "good" ending
• Client or therapist pushes for an "aha" or a meaning

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.