Life isn't so black and white, there are lots of grey areas. I am a researcher but I accept, as a therapist, that all people are individual, and just because 7 out of 8 studies show that using dreams are associated with relapse, it doesn't mean that I can translate that into my working practice to set up a self-fulfilling prophecy for my clients. I would prefer to create an environment where the client can talk about using dreams without fear of judgement, and then be given the support to work through any issues that the dream sharing allows to emerge which may well threaten sobriety. There are other benefits from using dreams in the treatment of addictive behaviors. For example, one of the benefit will be the bonds made while sharing dreams in treatment groups Because dreams are a universal phenomenon, everyone has them at some point.
Dreams are great levelers and help people to identify with each other.
I suggest that as soon as the person enters treatment, they should be encouraged to keep a dream diary alongside their recording of other important daily events. These dreams can be shared in therapy sessions. The main benefit of this approach will be that during the time they are in treatment, the client will be able see their dream content change. Even over a few months some pretty dramatic differences in the themes and feelings which accompany dreams can be observed. In my own research I have compared the dreams of people with an addictive behavior with those who have not.