Imagination, Dreams and SE

Peter A Levine, Ph.D.

A dream which is not understood is like a letter which is not opened
— The Talmud

Without imagination, we are constrained to constantly relive the past. It is only with imagination that we can envision a future different than the past—a future that brings us nourishment and more positive life experiences. Dreams are what allow access to the collective unconscious and to experience the rich border-realm between sleep and wakefulness.

It seems like everybody has a different theory of dreams. In this class we will explore the possibility that dreams exist on their own merit. Carl Jung observed that most of the neurosis today, along with the feeling of isolation and fragmentation, arises from the disconnection between the “ego-mind” and the unconscious. He also wrote that the most important question that anyone can ask is, “What myth am I living?” Dreams are a royal road to discovering our myths and living them in our lives. This workshop is not just about understanding our dreams (which can be revealing), but is primarily about bringing the dreams to life in our wakeful imagination—so that we may be enriched by this source of collective wisdom.

Dreams – and active imagination – can be sources of guiding transpersonal experiences, knowledge, and wisdom. By working with dreams, we have the possibility to uncover these profound archetypes and to discover how they direct the forward movement of our lives. Once we become aware of these inner energetic forces, we have the option to change the direction of our lives.

Trauma Through a Child's Eyes

With Maggie Kline

This 4-Day PlayShop cleverly interweaves the basics of Somatic Experiencing® trauma healing with art, movement, attachment principles, and breath work.

When: Thursday – Sunday, May 14–17, 2026

What You Will Learn:

• The Resilience Roadmap Model for alleviating symptoms and behaviors such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, nightmares, and aggression.
• “The 8 Essentials of Healthy Attachment” to develop a resilient nervous system with activities for ventral vagal and social-emotional development.
• Teaching kids and teens sensory (interoceptive) awareness and tracking skills with art, games, and breathing to increase emotional regulation through charge/discharge cycles, settling, and integration.
• Boundary work with children and teens for empowerment after sexual or physical violation.
• Small group process work with the shock and grief from personal losses such as death, divorce, and abandonment.
• Case material fusing SE™ Principles, Art, and Movement for Individuals, Groups, and Classrooms.

This PlayShop is useful for professionals who wish to integrate the core concepts of SE™ when working with kids, as well as those wishing to deepen their understanding of inner child work with adults. It is a mixture of lecture, videos, experiential activities, and Q&A.

About Your Instructor:

Maggie Kline, LMFT has been in education since the 1970s, a Family Therapist and School Psychologist since the 1980s, and a Somatic Experiencing® International Faculty Member since the 1990s. She is owner of Conscious Connections PlayShops and co-author with Peter Levine of Trauma Through a Child’s Eyes and Trauma-Proofing Your Kids.

She also wrote Brain-Changing Strategies to Trauma-Proof Our Schools, and contributed chapters in four anthologies, including EMDR for Complex Trauma and Dissociation in Children and The Handbook of Trauma-Transformative Practice. Her latest contribution is My Inner Doggie Is Growling—a somatic and interactive children’s picture book to help kids (and grown-ups) discover the sensations hidden beneath big emotions.