Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth

It seems that after this book this author has written much on the subject of Jungian work but the majority appears to be a survey of ideas, unlike this book which is the heart of actually doing Jungian work. Since I'm becoming a clinical social worker I tend to read many books such as this one to know how the actually meat of many forms of therapy and inner work are carried out. Much out there is pure junk that loses my interest very quickly. This book is a joy to read through and the examples are very relevant. The author does not go off on tangents about personal anecdotes, something that tends to bore me with many authors.I have had an interest in Jungian work but have found it very abstract and not as down to earth as many other forms of therapy or psychological work. This book takes you directly to the core of the two most important ways of Jungian work: dream work and active imagination. There are several other methods used in analytic work but these are the most fundamental. The four steps are accessible and simple to carry out.As I have an interest in having at least a foot in Jungian ideas as a therapist this book will be invaluable for both my inner work and those of my future clients.The only problem I find is that the Jungian school needs more of a place for body and emotive work to ground the abstract in direct present experience using methods such as: Gestalt methods, Gendlin's Focusing Technique, meditation and so on. Otherwise this is by far the most practical work by a Jungian that I have come across.

The quality of the book is very good with only a few minor tears in the jacket cover. No markings or discolorations on the inner pages. The content of the book is amazing as well - highly recommended as an actual working field guide for dreamwork and active imagination. Very clear explanations and case study examples.

I've read a few books and listened to some CDs on dream interpretation, but Johnson's Inner Work is the first one to give me real confidence that I can do this myself. The process he outlines does take time -- it isn't a "go with your gut" quick fix -- but it leads to some intense, evocative results. The 4-step process is deceptively simple: Step 1 - Identify key images and your associations to those images; Step 2 - Ask yourself where these images/associations show up in your life; Step 3 - Interpret the dream, and; Step 4 - Complete a ritual around the dream that makes it more concrete in your life. I was amazed at the many associations that came to me with each image as I completed step 1, some of them were relevant and some not, but ALL of them made me think. Step 2, I admit is the most difficult for me, and step 4 probably the most meaningful. Again, this is not for the lazy or faint of heart. You don't just dive into interpretation, and it takes some effort to make the associations Johnson asks us to make in order to arrive at a reasonable interpretation. But it sure is worth it! I've made some interpretations that have just astonished me and moved me. Beyond the mechanics of dream interpretation, the book is incredibly well written. Johnson is a thoughtful, engaging writer who puts words together in a way that we not only understand but enjoy reading.

In Inner Work, Johnson provides a thorough and easy to follow guide on how to engage with your unconscious. Though one can find a lot in Jung on symbolic interpretation, he was somewhat cagey about detailing exactly how to go about active imagination. He gives the right amount of context, in what is essentially a practical manual, without bogging the reader down in theory that can be consulted elsewhere if necessary.If there is one criticism I have of the book it is that he chose to highlight dream interpretation instead of active imagination. Jung maintained that active imagination, though decidedly more difficult, was far more powerful and rewarding than its passive cousin. Further, that dreams were regularly warning signals that something in the psyche was already out of balance. The need for the unconscious to communicate through dreams subsides when conscious fantasies are taken more seriously. Johnson could have made a more spirited case for shifting one's attention to preventative, active aspects of maintaining balance.

I have been using this book as a guide to working with dreams and active imagination for a while now. The examples are really helpful and the messages about the psyche woven into this book are priceless. Dr. Johnson is my favorite among Jungian writers and speakers. His thoughtful approach and openness to many possibilities shows how his wisdom has developed over the years. Like many people, I like to use meditation as a method to actively work with my imagination and the discoveries I have made are quite helpful. For the meditation part, I use this amazing book called "Two, One, None: Conversations on Meditations" written by Toru Sato that has helped me delve deeper into the hidden layers of psyche. That one is also a great read!