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Article Excerpt
The author applied dream work to the case of an addicted survivor of sexual abuse trauma using models of C. G. Jung (1974) and L. S. Leonard (1989). The dreams of the fictional client were then related to St. Teresa of Avila's (1577/1989) classic model for spiritual growth, The Interior Castle.
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Dream work can be a useful modality in the recovery process of adults who cope with life trauma by becoming chemically dependent or developing other addictive disorders. Dream interpretation affords an "X-ray" of psychic structure and contents that furnishes insight to the client and the counselor about the functions of survival mechanisms. Dream work provides information about (a) the pain and shame of past trauma, (b) addictive dynamics in present relationships, and (c) resources and potentials for future creative living.
Processing dreams in recovery facilitates the "unfreezing" of the survivor's false front and habitual thoughts that maintain the delusional system of addiction. Dream work with addicted trauma survivors represents the hero's journey from the darkness of acting out in the material world to the light of love implicit in genuinely intimate relationships. The goal of working with dreams in the context of trauma resolution is to integrate emergent parts or ego states of personality into an increasingly coherent self (Jung, 1974; Watkins & Watkins, 1997). The resulting wholeness fosters receptivity to one's Higher Power and authentic spiritual growth.
The purpose of this article is to explore this journey from darkness into light by reviewing excerpts from the dream journal of Anne, a fictional client based on real-life experiences of trauma survivors who become entranced by the power of addiction. The dream work model used to analyze the case incorporates several theoretical sources, especially the work of Jung (1974) and Leonard (1989). The dream work in this case expresses a process of spiritual growth described in The Interior Castle written by St. Teresa of Avila (1577/1989), a Christian contemplative and mystic.
The Case of Anne
A physician referred Anne S., a 36-year-old, single, White woman, for evaluation and treatment of sexual trauma issues. Anne had 1 year of sobriety after an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) intervention, inpatient treatment, and outpatient follow-up for alcoholism. She was actively involved in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), attending three or four meetings per week. Extant documentation, including the social history and psychiatric evaluation, revealed an extensive family history of alcoholism, depression, compulsive overeating, and incest.
Background
The initial interview revealed that Anne's younger brother had sexually abused her when she was between the ages of 11 and 13 years. His voyeurism and exhibitionism evolved into fondling, digital penetration, and oral sex on numerous occasions. Typically, the abuse occurred while she was in her bedroom. She pretended to be asleep during the incidents.
Family week activities during Anne's inpatient treatment revealed that her mother was a victim of incest perpetrated by her mother's stepfather. There was a positive family history of depression, as well as compulsive overeating and bulimia, among her mother's relatives.
Anne experienced relative poverty because of her father's periodic unemployment, the consequence of his binge drinking. Her father was hostile and critical. Anne's mother frequently was withdrawn and unresponsive to her young daughter's needs for attention and affirmation. Her older brother suffered from alcoholism and rage attacks that led to domestic violence and divorce. Her brother experienced poor vocational adjustment and was considered the black sheep of the family. Anne was the "little princess" and an overachiever, attaining high status for her academic and extracurricular accomplishments.
Prior to the referral, Anne had recalled sexual abuse by the father of an elementary school friend. She had experienced some nightmare images involving being fondled by an adult man. Anne was having the recurrent image of an old door, which evoked nausea when she dwelled on it. In addition, she had had some flashbacks of a date rape that had occurred when she began dating at age 16.
Anne started experimenting with drugs at age 17, trying marijuana and LSD. She began using alcohol, her drug of choice, on approximately a daily basis. Anne continued drinking without regard for negative consequences (e.g., being late for work, abusing sick leave, and failing to meet deadlines) until her employer referred her to an EAP counselor, who organized an intervention. Her employer, an older advertising executive in a prestigious agency, had talked her into dating him in the months before the referral. Then, he turned his attention to a young woman he had recently hired, continuing a pattern of sexual harassment.
Anne reported periods of sexual inactivity and lack of sexual desire alternating with sexual preoccupation and sexual acting out. During adolescent sexual activity that Anne engaged in after the date rape, she had experienced some vaginismus, making penetration difficult or impossible. During a relationship in which she became engaged to marry, sex was an issue because of her lack of desire, anorgasmia, and pain during intercourse. Her engagement ended when she discovered her fiance's compulsive sexual affairs.
Anne has been troubled by some recurrent sexual thoughts and fantasies, including some masochistic and same-sex preoccupations. In addition, she has experienced some obsessions about having sexual contact with adolescent boys. She had periods of sexual acting out, associated with drinking, in which she would have sex with men she met at bars. She engaged in some bondage, spanking, and display humiliation during sex with these nearly anonymous partners. While completing a bachelor's in fine arts degree in art, Anne was strongly attracted to a female professor in college. There was some sex talk and inappropriate meetings with this woman outside the school setting, but Anne recalled no sexual contact. Masochistic and group-sex fantasies were common for Anne during masturbation.
Anne was most shamed and hesitant about revealing her eating history. Because she had become "chubby" at puberty, she alternately binged and purged on high-caloric foods such as cookies, ice cream, and candy bars. Her mother, who was preoccupied with Anne's weight, told her no man would want her if she was fat. Anne's father made taunting remarks about her weight and inappropriate comments about her breast development and other pubertal changes.
She secretly hoarded food and binged at times, especially when feeling alone or afraid. Anne had withdrawn from most of her friends and social activities. She was...
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