About the Author
Joseph Dillard was first exposed to holistic health, meditation and dreamwork in 1963, when he was 13, traveling to the Middle East for five weeks with the Association for Research and Enlightenment, an organization dedicated to the study of the trance readings of the medical clairvoyant, Edgar Cayce. Immersion in the inclusive and compassionate worldview of the Edgar Cayce's readings incubated a lifelong interest in dreamwork and meditation. He studied comparative religion, psychology and philosophy at SMU in Dallas, Texas, with a particular interest in Nagarjuna's Madhyamika (Mahayana) Buddhism. In 1976, Dillard began work in the mental health field and received his Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of Arkansas in 1978. He practiced Jungian, Gestalt and other forms of therapy that use dream material extensively. In 1980, he received his PhD in Holistic Health Sciences from Columbia Pacific University. In 1981, with inspiration from the sociometric methods developed by psychiatrist J.L. Moreno, Dillard created Dream Sociometry, the dreamwork methodology that led to the development of Integral Deep Listening, a transpersonal methodology that creates an I-Thou relationship with one's life compass using an interviewing protocol with dream characters and the personifications of life issues. From 1983 until 2008, he worked in private practice as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Phoenix, Arizona, treating relationship issues, depression, anxiety, addiction, ADD/ADHD, PTSD and spiritual development issues. In 2000, he began teaching at Southwest Institute for the Healing Arts in Tempe, Arizona. In 2006, Dillard began training Integral Deep Listening practitioners in Germany. Published works include Dreamworking, How to Use Your Dreams for Creative Problem Solving (with Stanley Krippner), Transformational Dreamwork: Toward an Integral Approach to Deep Listening, Integral Deep Listening, Integral Deep Listening Interviewing Techniques, Integral Deep Listening Practitioner, Integral Deep Listening and Healing, Integral Deep Listening and Meditation, Dream Sociometry. Transcending Your Monkey Mind: The Five Trees and Meditation, Ending Nightmares for Good, Light from Heaven: Deep Listening to Near Death Experiencers. An introductory text on IDL is available in German as Dream Yoga: Der weg der Träume. Dr. Dillard leads trips to Bimini, Bahamas to free dive with wild dolphins with his naturopath and psychotherapist wife, Claudia Hahm.
