Abstract
Dream imagery is ideally suited for use in art therapy and can provide a glimpse into the
emotional inner world of clients.Cultures throughout the world use dreams for healing and
insight and often incorporate the art process into their utilization of dream material.
However, to date, minimal art therapy research has been found by the researcher on
dreamwork, and even less identifying cross-cultural differences on dream processing and its
use for healing and insight. The field of art therapy would be enriched by a review of the
historical development of dreamwork found in cultures throughout the world. In review of
the professional literature, a substantial amount of research conducted in the fields of
anthropology, psychology, history, and art was found on the use of dreams across a wide
variety of cultures. A historical research design was chosen to examine previous research on
dream processing within a variety of cultures.
