| This study examined the experiences of 9 older people participating in eight Ullman dream appreciation groups, using Giorgi's phenomenological psychological research method. One volunteer shared a dream each week and fellow group members, called co-dreamers, used Ullman's 4-stage group process to help the dreamer understand how the dream might be applied to that dreamer's daily life. Of the 9 participants, a random sample of 3 dreamers and 3 co-dreamers were selected for data analysis.; One general structure was developed for the dreamers and a separate structure was developed for the co-dreamers. Results indicated that although most of the dreamers did not know each other previously, they experienced the process relatively similarly. The dreamers were amazed at the co-dreamers' perceptiveness, as well as their sincerity and caring. The depth of personal and emotional material shared by the dreamers was proportionate with the trust and comfort they felt with the other members of the group. The dreamers accepted the co-dreamers' feedback as valid when the dreamers could apply that feedback to past experiences. When the co-dreamers' feedback was not experienced by the dreamers as relevant, the dreamers did not incorporate that feedback into the meanings of their dreams, but instead, they considered the feedback as relevant to the co-dreamers' past experiences. Moreover, the 3 co-dreamers experienced the dream groups similarly. With the exception of the clarifying questions' stage, the co-dreamers generally had similar responses to each of the other stages: presentation of the dream, playing the game, the dreamer's response, finding the context, and the orchestrating projections. |
