Reading Room.

“Who looks inside awakes” is drawn from R. F. C. Hull’s English translation of C. G. Jung’s letter to Fanny Bowditch: “Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside awakes.” The letter was originally written in German.

JUNG, C. G. Letter to Fanny Bowditch, October 22, 1916. In: Letters. Vol. 1: 1906–1950. Selected and edited by Gerhard Adler in collaboration with Aniela Jaffé; translated from the German by R. F. C. Hull. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973, p. 33.

The dream work presented on this website is inspired by the experiential group methodology developed by psychologist and Jungian analyst Marion Rauscher Gallbach, PhD, as presented in Learning from Dreams and Aprendendo com os sonhos. The format facilitated by Marcelo Cunha is his own and does not imply institutional endorsement or Gallbach’s participation.

Marcelo participated for two years in two experiential dream groups led by Marion Gallbach, alongside personal analysis and clinical supervision with her. These experiences form part of his professional training. Gallbach underwent analysis with Aniela Jaffé, as shared in personal communication with Marcelo Cunha during this formative period.

This work also draws on C. G. Jung, Robert Bosnak, and Marie-Louise von Franz. Key references include Jung’s Dream Analysis: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1928–1930, edited by William McGuire, and Children’s Dreams: Notes from the Seminar Given in 1936–1940; Bosnak’s A Little Course in Dreams and Embodiment: Creative Imagination in Medicine, Art and Travel; and von Franz’s The Way of the Dream, in dialogue with Fraser Boa, and On Dreams and Death: A Jungian Interpretation. Working experientially with participants’ own dreams, studying Jung, and learning dream interpretation complement one another. This is a group for experiential dream work and inquiry into participants’ own dreams, rather than group psychotherapy. Participation respects personal boundaries and a shared commitment to confidentiality.

Books on dreams: Daimon — Learning from Dreams · Vozes — Seminários sobre análise de sonhos · Philemon Foundation — Children’s Dreams seminar (English excerpt) · Paulus — collection including Breve curso sobre sonhos · Routledge — Embodiment · Marie-Louise von Franz’s official bibliography

Institutional and Publisher Sources: SBPA — Marion Gallbach’s training and professional history · SBPA — Aprendendo com os sonhos · Paulus — Marion Gallbach’s professional history and training · Paulus — Aprendendo com os sonhos · AJB — Sonhos na Psicologia Junguiana · Junguiana 9 — Jung and dream research · Study of insight in dream groups

Jung reported examining 1,500 to 2,000 dreams a year in Collected Papers on Analytical Psychology, chapter XII.

The quotations on the dream group page follow the published English texts: JUNG, C. G. Civilization in Transition (Collected Works, Vol. 10, § 304), translated by R. F. C. Hull; and JUNG, C. G. Dream Analysis: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1928–1930, edited by William McGuire, seminar of May 22, 1929. The seminar passage reads: “Dreams are messages sent up from the unconscious and show what is actually going on there.”

Contemporary studies show associations between dream content, memory, and emotion. See the meta-analysis on dreaming and memory consolidation and the study of dreams and emotional memory.

The dialogue between Analytical Psychology and contemporary research includes empirical studies, clinical observations, and proposals for theoretical integration. The references below address different aspects of this dialogue: the emotional dimension of dreams, their relationship to conscious life, the psyche’s self-representation, and their possible regulatory functions.

Margaret Wilkinson (2006) — The dreaming mind-brain: a Jungian perspective. A theoretical and clinical discussion of Jungian dream work in light of neuroscience, emphasizing the processing of emotional experiences.

Caifang Zhu (2013) — Jung on the Nature and Interpretation of Dreams: A Developmental Delineation with Cognitive Neuroscientific Responses. A review of the development of Jung’s ideas and their relationship to cognitive and neuroscientific approaches, which challenge, enrich, and in some respects confirm them.

Antonio Alcaro, Stefano Carta and Jaak Panksepp (2017) — The Affective Core of the Self: A Neuro-Archetypical Perspective on the Foundations of Human (and Animal) Subjectivity. A proposal integrating affective neuroscience and the Jungian conception of the Self; it is not a specific test of compensation in dreams.

Christian Roesler (2025) — Jung’s Theory of Dreaming and the Findings of Empirical and Clinical Dream Research. Presents Structural Dream Analysis and clinical research findings supporting the understanding of dreams as the psyche’s self-representation and interpretation on the subjective level.

Konstantin Rößler (2026) — A Late Confirmation? Review of C. G. Jung’s Understanding of Dreams in the Light of Modern Dream Research. A review of connections between Jung’s understanding of dreams and contemporary research, including the continuity hypothesis and the default mode network.

In The Dream and the Underworld (1979), James Hillman proposes staying with the dream image before reducing it to an explanation.

HILLMAN, James. The Dream and the Underworld. New York: Harper & Row, 1979.

The maxim “Stick with the image” expresses this approach to dream work.

The portrait panel on the home page combines historical photographs in the public domain or under open licenses with two original artistic portraits. The images of Mario Jacoby and Michael Fordham were created with artificial intelligence assistance and human art direction, drawing on historical biographical archives. The scene of Jung studying, on the dream group page, is also a contemporary editorial composition based on the historical portrait credited below. These are illustrative tributes rather than photographic documents.

Jung — Public domain· Nise da Silveira — Public domain· von Franz — BEPJoseZavala, CC BY-SA 3.0· Hillman — George Quasha, CC BY 3.0· Freud — Library of Congress, Public domain· Winnicott — Wellcome Collection, CC BY 4.0· Lacan — Foto Moisio / La Stampa, 1969, Public domain· Frankl — Franz Vesely, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE· Jacoby — Original illustration; visual reference: ADEPAC· Fordham — Original illustration; visual reference: Biographical memorial

The Specialized Training section on the couples and family therapy page draws on the history and approach of the training program and the coordinators’ professional biographies. For the evidence base supporting systemic therapy, see the research review by von Sydow and colleagues (2010), with an abstract on PubMed.

The Reading Room brings together interviews, articles for a general readership, and original writing by Marcelo Cunha. Entries identify the original publication venue and date where available, with links to public records or digital editions on this website. Future publications will be reviewed and individually approved before appearing on the website.

“One practice. Two spaces.” expresses a clinical idea: in online psychotherapy, the encounter takes place across two spaces. The clinician’s environment and the space chosen by the person seeking therapy both help shape the therapeutic frame—the conditions of privacy, continuity, and trust that sustain the work.

Psychoanalytic and Analytical Psychology literature discusses both the possibilities and the limits of this encounter. Merchant examines the viability of the online analytical process; Roesler explores the effects of technological mediation on the therapeutic relationship, including the loss of nonverbal cues. Wright considers the psychological meaning of the physical and virtual space of the therapy office. In Brazil, Cardoso and colleagues reflect on the virtual frame, while Ferracioli and colleagues bring together benefits and barriers reported by psychologists.

These studies help us think about a space for care built together: privacy on both sides, attention to interruptions, reliable communication, and agreements suited to the person involved. Online therapy requires attention to these conditions and the needs of each case.

MERCHANT, John. Working online due to the COVID-19 pandemic: a research and literature review. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 66(3), 484–505, 2021. Record and abstract on PubMed.

ROESLER, Christian. Tele-analysis: the use of media technology in psychotherapy and its impact on the therapeutic relationship. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 62(3), 372–394, 2017. Record and abstract on PubMed.

WRIGHT, Deborah L. S. The Physical and Virtual Space of the Consulting Room: Room-object Spaces. Routledge, 2022. Publisher’s description.

CARDOSO, Bruno Cavaignac Campos, and colleagues. O enquadre virtual como um dispositivo psicanalítico de atendimento online. Revista Brasileira de Psicanálise, 56(1), 195–208, 2022. Full text on PePSIC.

FERRACIOLI, N. G. M.; OLIVEIRA-CARDOSO, É. A.; OLIVEIRA, W. A.; SANTOS, M. A. Potentialities and Barriers of Online Psychotherapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Scoping Review. Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa, 39, e39410, 2023. Full text on SciELO.

Systemic Family Therapy took shape as a clinical field from the 1950s onward, in dialogue with General Systems Theory, cybernetics, and communication research. Suffering came to be examined also within relationships, interaction patterns, and the contexts in which people live. This perspective helps us understand recurring family patterns and bonds without reducing the problem to a single individual.

The history of the field includes changes in the therapist’s role. Second-order and constructionist approaches, discussed by Lynn Hoffman, recognize the observer’s participation and the collaborative construction of meaning. Writing in Portuguese, Maria José Esteves de Vasconcellos presents complexity, instability, and intersubjectivity as dimensions of systemic epistemology.

Clinical research brings together reviews of controlled trials and studies of therapeutic processes and outcomes. Von Sydow and colleagues analyzed 38 trials with adults; Alan Carr synthesizes evidence for couple, family, and systemic interventions addressing different problems. In Brazil, Diniz Neto and Féres-Carneiro critically discuss efficacy studies and their methodological challenges. Findings concern specific interventions, populations, and conditions; a systemic foundation alone does not make all methods equivalent or guarantee an individual outcome.

VON BERTALANFFY, Ludwig. The History and Status of General Systems Theory. Academy of Management Journal, 15(4), 407–426, 1972. Publisher’s reference · Alternative access on JSTOR.

HOFFMAN, Lynn. Constructing Realities: An Art of Lenses. Family Process, 29(1), 1–12, 1990. DOI: 10.1111/j.1545-5300.1990.00001.x.

VASCONCELLOS, Maria José Esteves de. Pensamento sistêmico: o novo paradigma da ciência. Campinas: Papirus, 2002. Review of the 2002 edition on PePSIC.

VON SYDOW, Kirsten; BEHER, Stefan; SCHWEITZER, Jochen; RETZLAFF, Rüdiger. The efficacy of systemic therapy with adult patients: a meta-content analysis of 38 randomized controlled trials. Family Process, 49(4), 457–485, 2010. Record and abstract on PubMed.

CARR, Alan. Couple therapy and systemic interventions for adult-focused problems: The evidence base. Journal of Family Therapy, 47, e12481, 2025. DOI: 10.1111/1467-6427.12481.

DINIZ NETO, Orestes; FÉRES-CARNEIRO, Terezinha. Eficácia psicoterapêutica: terapia de família e o efeito “Dodô”. Estudos de Psicologia (Natal), 10(3), 355–361, 2005. Full text on SciELO.

The images of the therapy office, lecture, family tree, domestic scene, bookshelf with a sculpture, Oedipus and the sphinx, and the sequence of waking during the night are editorial compositions created with artificial intelligence assistance and human direction. They are not documentary records of a specific environment, lecture, institution, date, audience, or participant. No person depicted as an audience member or a dreamer represents an actual patient, and no personal or clinical patient data was used.

The lecture scene represents Marcelo Cunha’s experience giving talks for couples for more than ten years. It was created using visual references of his appearance that he provided and authorized. The therapy office image is a visual interpretation of the space beyond what is visible during an online session.

The family-tree and domestic-scene illustrations follow the visual language of a book illustration. The family tree uses labels naming family relationships; the domestic scene symbolizes relational tension rather than documenting a session. The image of the bookshelf and sculpture was composed from photographs of the actual therapy office. Book spines in the composition may not reproduce the original titles exactly.

Ethical References: CFP — AI in psychological practice · CFP — Guide to artificial intelligence