One of the helpers had a dream in which he was on his way to a professional convention. He had to enter an underground garage, but there were guards at the entrance who checked the credentials of those entering and the dreamer felt unsure whether he possessed the proper credentials to be admitted. These dream events struck a strong responsive chord in Jean because another problem that had plagued her was that she had never completed college and had always felt deficient regarding her lack of academic credentials when she interacted with Ron's professional colleagues. In addition to ventilating some of her past discomforts over this credentials topic, Jean also brought out that it was currently presenting a hurdle for her as she was contemplating a new venture in which this issue could again surface. Following some lively commentary about the artificiality of academic degrees and the fact that they did not invest their holder with any greater degree of humanity than those possesing an H.S. (homo sapiens) diploma, Jean said she felt much more confident about proceeding with the new venture she had been considering.

Three of the helpers described dreams in which they were riding in a car and narrowly averted a serious accident. Two of these involved potential collisions at an intersection, and in the third one a minor accident had occurred but no one was injured. Discussion of this recurrent accident or collision theme led to Jean bringing out feelings that she and Ron had been on a more-or-less collision course. Although no one had been critically hurt, the potential for serious injury was a looming threat since they were approaching an intersection or choice point in their marriage. Consideration of this car imagery led the group back to reviewing the unusual car that had two steering wheels. Jean came up with the idea that if the responsibility for driving could be more equally shared, perhaps a smoother journey would result for Jean and Ron.

Another recurrent theme picked up by three of the helpers dealt with the concept of "blackness." Dream references were made to a black man, a black-tie tuxedo, and a black light. The group was puzzled over what to make of this reference to "blackness." Jean revealed that during her early adolescent years she was referred to as "Blacky" by her family and that this name was always uttered in a context of extremely negative evaluation regarding her. Further consideration of how extensively the negative "Blacky" self-image had been incorporated by Jean caused her to re-examine how some of her own inputs may have been contributing to the marital tension.

I must emphasize again that these brief dream condensations cannot reflect the  surprising amount  of detail