About

I am a dream analyst, specializing in the interpretation of dreams.

Born in Istanbul, Turkey of American diplomatic parents, I spent most of my childhood living for extensive periods in the Near East, Western Europe and Central America. Over the years, I gained facility in five languages, and have a profound respect for the rich nature of world cultures.

While still a student in college, I began volunteering with children at an out-patient mental health clinic in eastern Indiana. This took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s before congress enacted a national policy in regard to special education. I became a teacher of children with brain disorders and emotional problems, eventually being hired as a clinic staff member, even while still attending college.

During this time, I was encouraged by my clinic supervisors to pursue further education in psychology, not only through my college course work, but by attending locally offered seminars and workshops. During this heady time, I spent several weeks working with psychologists who were devotees of Fritz Perls, one of the founders of the Gestalt Therapy movement. I was immediately captivated. The techniques offered a more streamlined alternative to years of expensive psychoanalysis, and I was especially moved by the effectiveness of the Gestalt approach to dreams.

That began a decades-long study of the process of dreaming, including understanding the purpose of dreams in our lives, and exploring how a dreamer can use the dreaming phenomenon to help guide him through the thornier moments of life.

Once again, I found himself wishing for simplification. While the Gestalt approach to psychology is certainly simpler than psychoanalysis, its approach to dreams usually requires a cumbersome process of role playing that can be as off-putting as it can be helpful. Over time, this led me to develop my own simple and effective method of dream interpretation—five easily-mastered steps that anyone can learn.

In addition, while doing my research, I was struck by how “dreamlike” the unusual events of waking life can be. My understanding that one can analyze and interpret these waking life events, reaching the same kinds of profound, helpful insights that one gains from nighttime dreams, revolutionized my approach to dreams and my understanding of their purpose in our lives. I wrote the book "Always Dreaming" to document my findings.

Since then, I have taught dream classes on three continents and in four languages, highlighting both nighttime and “waking” dreams. During the summer of 2012, I was a presenter at the annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Dreams. In 2015, I was a guest speaker at the Transformation Conference sponsored by my publisher, Ozark Mountain Press.  I have been a frequent guest on radio shows, I write an online dream-related blog multiple times weekly, teach dream classes via Skype and conference calls, and regularly facilitate a dream seminar in the Pacific Northwest.

I currently live with my wife on the east side of Portland, Oregon, my home for the past 16 years.

For more information, please visit www.teacherofdreams.com.