The Treatment of Creative Blocks: A Comparison of Waking Imagery, Hypnotic Dream, and Rational Discussion Techniques

Abstract

Forty-eight volunteers reporting creative blocks in relation to artistic, literary, scientific, or professional projects, were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (1) Waking Imagery, (2) Hypnotic Dream, (3) Rational Discussion, or (4) Control. In the Waking Imagery condition, participants engaged in ten directed imagination exercises, and subsequently generated three waking fantasies related to their creative projects. In the Hypnotic Dream condition, participants were exposed to a hypnotic induction procedure, and subsequently produced three hypnotic dreams related to their creative projects. The Rational Discussion condition involved a highly focused and logical collaborative examination of participants' creative projects, in which distractions and task-irrelevant thoughts were avoided. The Control condition simply involved encouraging participants, in a nondirective fashion, to discuss their projects. Follow-up a week after conclusion of treatment involved a rating by participants of Satisfaction and an account of changes, if any, in the creative block. Results suggest that the Waking Imagery and Hypnotic Dream conditions were most effective in promoting resolution of creative blocks. An examination of a number of possible predispositional features reveals that, overall, individuals with good attentional control and with low pretreatment levels of dysphoric daydreaming (e.g., guilty or hostile fantasies) were most likely to demonstrate a positive change in the status of their block. Intercorrelations between predispositional measures such as daydreaming styles, Public and Private Self-Consciousness, Absorption, and Hypnotic Susceptibility were also considered.