Social Dreaming is a way of working with dreams where the focus is on the dream and not the dreamer. In Social Dreaming, the meaning of a dream is about the broader world in which we live. All dreams and dream fragments are welcomed, whether seemingly frivolous or serious; funny or scary. Dreams can emerge from the associative unconscious, where every dream is equal. In a Social Dreaming event called a matrix, participants are invited to offer their dreams and, through associations, explore the possible social meanings contained. The dreams are not interpreted for personal meaning, but connections are made to social life. Personal meanings are for the individual to consider privately. Each social dreaming matrix is most often followed by a dream reflection dialogue where hypotheses are developed about the social meaning emerging from the matrix. Social dreaming is a current expression of dream sharing with the intent to formulate or discover new hypotheses about the community and the world in which we live. (See Long and Manley 2019).

Social Dreaming for ISPSO Annual Meeting July 1-7, 2024

All ISPSO annual meeting registrants are welcome to join the social dreaming matrices and dream reflection dialogues held before and during the annual meeting. The dreams offered to the matrices immediately preceding and during the Annual Meeting have the potential to inform matrix participants about unconscious processes within the culture of the organization especially its annual meeting. The dream reflection dialogue following each social dreaming matrix allows matrix participants to make sense of the dreams given the annual meeting context. This can then support them in the work of the annual meeting.

Social Dreaming work understands that the meaning emergent from social dreaming belongs to a collaborative endeavour amongst participants. The SD team members act as hosts and facilitators and are not regarded as the only ones to create meaning.

The Program

1. A social dreaming matrix (SDM) and dream reflection dialogue (DRD) will be held in person each morning of the AM.
2. An online social dreaming matrix (SDM) and dream reflection dialogue (DRD) will commence two weeks prior to the AM. There will be two weekly sessions on the 17th and 24th of June (1.15pm-2.15pm EET, Sofia, Bulgaria time). The online matrix will continue throughout the AM to be held each day during lunch hour (also 1.15pm-2.15pm EET). Symposium registrants (online and in-person) can attend without additional cost. To attend "The Online Matrix" only  the full fee is €95 and the reduced fee €75.
3. A room will be available for matrix participants to post any creative materials emerging from their experience of the dreams – drawings, poems, short tales, small installations made from accessible materials etc. This will be managed by a team member.

The Social Dreaming team for the 2024 AM is dedicated to:

• provide the possibility for a social dreaming experience for all those enrolled for the AM whether in-person or virtually without the messiness of a hybrid format.
• A containing and holding function insofar as the current state of the world and the organisations within it, may generate intense emotions accompanying dreams. The hypothesis at work is that social dreaming provides a way of both expressing and containing these emotions.
• Ways in which participants can see how social dreaming might be applied for learning about the unconscious processes in organisations.