Have you ever wondered about the meanings behind your dreams?
A new Port Alberni resident is facilitating a workshop this weekend that will help people understand the messages that might be behind their sleeping dreams.
Crisanna MacLeod has been living in Port Alberni since September 2023, after many years of visiting family members who live here. MacLeod has a professional background as a social worker, probation officer, behaviour therapist and drug and alcohol counsellor, and she has been facilitating workshops “for a very long time,” she explained.
“I have an opportunity to pay forward what I have learned through 60 years of counselling, therapy and personal growth,” said MacLeod. “I’ve been on both sides of the desk, so it’s not just theoretical learning.”
MacLeod shares a method of thinking that emphasizes being “content and kind” in all relationships—beginning with the self.
Her first three-hour workshop will take place on Saturday, May 4 and is called “Understanding Your Dreams.” Throughout the workshop, MacLeod will show people how to engage with their dreams, including recurring dreams and nightmares, and will offer tips for recalling and recording dreams.
“Rather than dream interpretation, it’s about understanding the personal pictures we get in our dreams,” Crisanna explained. “Dreams are when our conscious mind gets out of the way and our heart’s desire has an opportunity to be acknowledged. When you understand your dreams, you understand yourself.”
While some people might see the same symbol in a dream—for example, a chair—that image will look different to each person based on their own life experiences, said MacLeod. Understanding and engaging with these images will also look different for each person.
MacLeod previously facilitated a dreams workshop at the Power of Three which was well-received, but since that store has closed her workshops will now take place at Literacy Alberni on Tebo Avenue.
The new workshop will take place on Saturday, May 4 from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The cost is $30 per person and it is open to ages 14 and up. To register or to find more information, email practicalprayerstyg@gmail.com.
“It’s also an opportunity to meet some really interesting people,” MacLeod said. “And to connect with people who are also wanting to be the best version of themselves.”
MacLeod has two more workshops coming up later this fall, although they have not been scheduled yet. The next one, “Relationship Recipes,” will teach people how to be content and kind in their relationships. The third workshop will be called “The Art of Listening.”