Page 215 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 5

Forum

Following the ascension of Christ, Apostles Pe- dream was the phenomenon in which he felt a
ter and Paul both entered intense dream-like perfect love that durably cast out fear.
states that changed the course of the Western A female patient suffered crippling bereavement
World. In Acts 10 Peter receives a vision that it from a miscarriage tragically endured years ago.
is right and good to break bread with the gen- She noted that she was always sad and traveled
tiles and enjoy full communion with those of through life robotically and without joy. During
any tribe or race who might receive the gospel. treatment her narrative revealed that she was
In Acts 9 Paul endures a vision that transforms very religious but had never offered the soul of
him from a persecutor of the church to a defen- her lost little one to God in Christ. Treatment
der of the faith. referred her to a priest with whom she com-
From Holy Scripture we come to understand mended the spirit of her lost child to the Lord.
that God provides revelation and communi- Immediately following, she dreamt that her
cates to the individual and collective mind via child was in a wonderful place and enjoyed the
dreams and visions. presence of a perfect man who played with the
Speaking as a practicing Anglo-Catholic Cli- child in light and protected the child in joy. This
nical Psychologist who has provided psycho- experience changed the woman. Her symptoms
therapy to Christian clinical populations in the of sadness and depersonalization collapsed. We
United States for over 20 years, I believe that met for more sessions but she remained nor-
God continues to guide His children through mally happy and animated. She was discharged
dreams and visions. Dreams of importance to from treatment without signs or symptoms.
the Christian patient make a deep impression. A 35 year old Baptist deacon presented in treat-
Such dreams are qualitatively different from ment with tremendous love sickness. He talked
spiritually unimportant dreams. Spiritually im- about a “supermodel” in his church with whom
portant dreams are wonderful and exciting and he had fallen in love. Since he did not return his
imprint the memory. They are remembered love, he spent his days distracted from his du-
vividly, even years later. Because God is good ties, moping, and unfocussed. He lamented that
and loving, goodness and love are experienced he could only think of her and his unhappiness
within the dream’s core, even if the dreamer is with unrequited love. After a certain amount of
unsettled on a fleshly level. Christian psycho- clinical working through, he disclosed the follo-
logists and patients find that spiritually reliab- wing dream, “I drive in my car near the house of
le dreams never contradict Scripture. A dream the ‘supermodel.’ Then the presence of the First
woven by the Holy Spirit will always lead the Person comes upon me and saturates the vehic-
dreamer on an edifying path that leads to the le. The power of the divine Love coming from
imitation of Christ. Such dreams will encourage the Father is indescribably strong. Out of this
the dreamer and never invite him or her to do strong Love the Father tells me to love the wo-
anything wrong. man with that Love.” This powerful dream offe-
Most importantly for the Christian psychothe- red the deacon a blueprint to get well. By loving
rapist and patient, spiritual dreams offer an are- this woman with a divine Love that transcen-
na for healing. Examples from my case books ded the intrinsic selfishness of romantic love, he
are numerous. A psychotic Roman Catholic was able to transcend his disappointment and
patient disclosed that he was terrified that his move forward in his ministry and personal life.
mental illness would devour his entire being.
Then he dreamed that Jesus Christ came to him. Christian psychotherapists should feel confi-
Upon awaking the patient remarked that Christ dent that dreams and visions have relevance to
loved him so intensely that enduring reassuran- the contemporary patient’s mental and spiritual
ce came upon his mind. Whenever he feared health and that this medical reality has prece-
that his illness would devour him, he thought of dence in Holy Scripture.
his dream wherein Jesus Christ loved him per-
sonally and in deepest reality. This recollection
served to displace his fears over and over. The

215