SO - YOU WANT TO BE A DREAM WORKER, BUT YOU DON'T WANT TO RUN THE MAZE & JUMP THROUGH THE HOOPS OF THE "PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGY/THERAPIST" ACADEMIC TRAINING?

There are at least 5 separate, potentially overlapping ways to do this.

(1) ASD TRAINING FOR MEMBERS & CONFERENCE ATTENDEES: Attending ASD events,
(both international and regional), where increasingly training in various techniques and philosophies of dream work and dream exploration are being offered. At some point, it is very likely that these "trainings" will be woven together administratively and turned into some sort of "certificate" program. (It's not fully in place yet, but just recently at the ASD Board sessions at UC Santa Cruz, on 7/12/01, the Board passed the first set of "general guidelines" for establishing such training programs, and the application of those guidelines is already under way.)

(2) UNIVERSITY AND INDEPENDENT ACADEMIC INSTITUTE PROGRAMS IN DREAM STUDIES:
Checking out various academic programs oriented to practical dream work skills, rather than professional psychological training and licensure: The ones I am most aware of are:

(A) "The Dream Studies Program", a "track" in the larger "Consciousness Studies Program" at John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, California,(at least for the moment - there is a plan to move JFK University up the road a few miles to Walnut Creek, California, but that is still in planning and fund-raising stage, and will not happen for at least another year or so...) Fariba Bogzaran is the Founder/Director of that program. I believe it is possible to matriculate with "a Masters in Consciousness Studies with a Concentration in Dream Studies" - (or language very close to that.) The program takes 2-3 years, and offers classes that meet once a week, as well as weekend intensives. Geared to the regular academic calendar.

http://www.jfku.edu/holistic/hs-dream.html

(B) The Doctor of Ministry Program at the University of Creation Spirituality in Oakland, California also offers a concentration in Dream Studies. Founded by the former Dominican, (now nominally Episcopalian), theologian, Matthew Fox, this program stresses "the re-invention of work", and requires that students take a number of expressive arts classes, as well as more traditional classes practical and theoretical dream work training. A handful of people have already received doctorates with a concentration in Dream Studies. The UCS D.MIn. Program meets in a series of week-long intensives, year round. The program takes 2-3 years. You can check this program out on the web at http://creationspirituality.com/

(C) The Haden Institute, in Charlotte, North Carolina, offers a 2 year program in "Dream Leader Training". It also meets in week-long and week-end intensives. Some of their classes are offered in Charlotte, and others are offered in the Episcopalian retreat center, Kanuga, in the mountains near Hendersonville, NC. Check them out on the web at
http://www.hadeninstitute.com/

(D) Clearly this kind of program is "an idea whose time has come", and there are other new programs springing up in Canada, Mexico, and other parts of the U.S. on an almost seasonal rhythm. Check back in here to keep apprised of developments as they break...

(3) Another "alternative" to the "professional psychology" route is MINISTERIAL/ CHAPLAINCY / SPIRITUAL DIRECTION TRAINING. More and more traditional denominational seminaries and spiritual direction programs are offering courses in practical dream work as part of their regular studies. Check the seminaries of your denomination, and the "interfaith" seminaries in your geographic area. These course offerings vary wildly from semester to semester and year to year.

(A) In the San Francisco Bay Area, there is a new dream work training program being offered by the Chaplaincy Institute for Arts & Interfaith Ministries. This program has a full Dream Worker Certification program, and offers practical dream work training as a regular part of its other "tracks": Ordination as an Interfaith Minister, or Minister of the Arts, Commissioning as an Interfaith Chaplain, Certification as a Dream Worker, and Certification as an Interfaith Spiritual Counsellor/Director. These "tracks" may be taken concurrently, in any combination. As a matter of policy, credit is always granted for past education and experience,

(4) HYPNOTHERAPY TRAINING: although most hypnotherapy training programs do not offer specific training in working with dreams, some of them do. It is the easiest, least expensive, and most quickly accomplished professional "therapy license" granted in California, and many other States and Territories as well. It usually takes about 6 months to complete the training and receive the license. Once a hypnotherapy license has been acquired, it can be used to "cover" work with dreams, particularly if the work includes light trance work, (to say nothing of the job opportunities in the weight-loss and smoke-addiction-recovery industries...)

(5) SIMPLE (LEGAL) ORDINATION: The Church of Universal Life, Modesto, California, founded by the Kirby Hensley, has established the fundamental legality of their "mail order" ordinations. The "practice of religion" is CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED in the U.S., and that means that practicing one-to-one dream work and dream group facilitation under the "umbrella" of a CUL ordination is completely legal. The CUL Minister is limited in what language can be used in promotional materials, (one may not use the word "Therapy" or Therapist" - unless one also has a license, say, as a hypnotherapist - but words like "Consultation", Facilitation", "Coaching", Dream Worker", etc. may all be used freely.)

ANY AND ALL OF THESE "ALTERNATIVES" TO TRADITIONAL PROFESSIONAL ACADEMIC PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAINING CAN BE "MIXED & MATCHED" TO SUIT THE NEEDS AND DESIRES OF THE INDIVIDUAL WHO WISHES TO BECOME A DREAM WORKER AND LEGALLY CHARGE MONEY FOR HIS/HER WORK.

Respectfully submitted,
Reverend Jeremy Taylor, D.Min.,
S.Th.D. (hon.)

[Author of DREAM WORK, (Paulist Press, Mahwah, 1983), WHERE PEOPLE FLY & WATER RUNS UP HILL, (Warner Books, New York, 1992), and THE LIVING LABYRINTH, (Paulist Press, 1998), co-founder and past president of the international Association for the Study of Dreams]

(c) Jeremy Taylor