VGCC Instructor presents Seminars on Dreams
In April, Vance-Granville Community College Psychology instructor Peter Metzner helped students, faculty, staff and members of the community access what he says can be their “internal compass” or “personal coach” — their own dreams. In addition to his regular classroom duties, Metzner has recently been conducting special free seminars on campus. One session for his fellow faculty members was on dealing with difficult classroom situations, while others were specifically geared toward helping students have the mindset to succeed on final exams for the spring semester. The seminars entitled “A Dream Circle,” meanwhile, were open to anyone.
According to Metzner, leading researchers believe that all dreams, even nightmares, are useful, promoting the dreamer’s health and wholeness. “Dreams reveal areas of our lives that need attention, showing us where adaptation and growth need to take place,” Metzner said. He recalled that interpreting a particularly meaningful dream years ago eventually led to him becoming a VGCC instructor and still resonates with him today. In his seminars, Metzner invited all participants to share their own dreams and then receive feedback on what they might mean. He cautioned them, however, saying, “You are the expert on your dreams, not any interpreter.” Metzner advises everyone to record their dreams in a journal just after awakening from each one, to review their journals to identify ongoing themes and patterns, and to realize that dreams can have multiple metaphorical meanings. “To learn, to grow and to develop, we need to make more use of our whole minds and draw on sources of wisdom that may have been neglected,” the instructor said. “Our dreams allow us to explore who we are and who we want to become, as we strive for a positive future.”
Peter Metzner, MA, MPA, CLC, has taught Psychology at VGCC since 2002. He has researched and studied dreams with the Journey through Wholeness, Triangle Jung Society, Robert Johnson, Barry Williams, Jeremy Taylor, John Ryan Haule and others. He has written articles on leadership and dream work and has given keynote presentations and workshops on dreams to organizations such as the National Wellness Institute, Center for Creative Leadership, and the North Carolina Association of Business Coaches. Metzner has also facilitated classes on dreams for the Institute for Life Coach Training. For more information, call Peter Metzner at (252) 738-3481.
Above: VGCC psychology instructor Peter Metzner (left) conducts one of his “Dream Circle” seminars in April on VGCC’s main campus. (VGCC photo)
