Saturday 10th October, 2026
12pm to 4:30pm
Online (Zoom)
"Entering the unconscious, entering yourself through dreams, is touching nature from the inside and this is the same thing, things are put right again.”
– Carl Jung
This year, our 14th annual conference explores the theme of dreams.
Shedule
10:00 - Opening
10:15 - 11:15 - Workshop 1 - Theresa Kelly
11:15 - 11:30 break
11:30 - 12:15 - Keynote - Mike Hackett
12:15 - 13:00 break
13:00 - 14:15 - Workshop 2 - Mike Hackett
14:15 - 14:30 break
14:30 - 15:30 - Workshop 3 - María Ortega García
15:30 - 16:00 - Group poem and closing
Programme - Saturday 10th October
Theresa Kelly
Mike Hackett
Keynote: Dreams and Poetry - bridges to our human experience.
Workshop: The Narrative Dreamwork Method - The dream as a creative act.
The talk will provide reflections on the theme of dreams and poetry.
The principal idea will be that dreaming and poetry are not merely analogous, but expressions of the same imaginative and symbolic faculty. There will be three movements. Firstly, the dreamer as poet exploring dreams and poetry, similarities and cautions. Secondly, the poet and dreamer exploring a unique life journey through poetry and dream, using them as therapeutic tools for integrating mostly forgotten biographical memory. Thirdly, the poet exploring ownership of the dream, shifting from seeing the dream in an dealised way to finding its practical and meaningful value.
María Ortega García
Curiouser and curiouser: down the rabitt hole of dreams
Follow Alice down the rabbit hole into a workshop where dreams count as evidence, not nonsense. Drawing on Alice in Wonderland's own words on dreams, selfhood, and strangeness, we'll write our way through the blur between who we were and who we dream to be. Poetry becomes the looking-glass, a way to meet the parts of ourselves that don't quite fit anywhere else. Keep your curiosity close in this trip and, hopefully, you'll leave a little curiouser.
About the speakers
Mike Hackett
Mike Hackett is an accredited therapist, supervisor, educator and researcher based in Dublin. He is the Republic of Ireland Regional Representative for the International Association for the Study of Dreams. He has been working with dream material for over forty years and now works professionally in the area, assisting clients and supervisees with dreams and nightmares. In his spare time, he likes to journal and write the occasional poem. Mike's method for working with dreams mirrors many of the principles of poetry because dreams, like poems, are language expressions of our deepest human experience. For this year's conference, Mike will present two crossings via the keynote, and dreamwork workshop. Each represents an invitation to meet the dreamer and poet in your client, and perhaps, in yourself.
Theresa Kelly
Theresa Kelly is an accredited Poetry Therapist Practitioner, with iaPoetry (International Academy for Poetry Therapy). As a Poetry Therapy Practitioner (PTP) she works with individuals and groups to help them access their creativity through poetry. This also helps them to uncover their inner strengths and to improve their general wellbeing. She also works as Psychotherapist and Supervisor, accredited with IAHIP and IACP. In her practice, based in Swords, Co. Dublin, she works principally from a Jungian perspective while being highly influenced by a person-centered approach to therapy. Some of the tools she uses in her practice include working with mindfulness, dreams, fairytales, sand, poetry, EMDR and Bodydreaming. She sees her role as facilitating the individual on their road to self-discovery in a safe and respectful way. She works with adults and adolescents on an individual and group basis, and also works with other therapists in a supervisory capacity.
María Ortega García
María Ortega García is a Poetry Therapy Practitioner accredited with iaPoetry and is currently training toward mentor/supervisor status. She serves as Programs & Practice Coordinator for iaPoetry and Secretary of IPTN, having previously served as Chairperson. María holds an MA in Philology, a BA in Humanities, along with a Diploma in trauma and mental health informed communities and schools. She is a transdisciplinary educator and poetry therapy practitioner. She works with individuals and groups through her project "Poetics of Care," using poetry therapy, mindfulness, embodiment, and nature to foster increased well-being, mental and emotional clarity, and a deeper sense of interconnectedness. María also directs training and research with several universities and organisations and trains educators in trauma-informed education, using poetry therapy as a core tool.
FEE
60€ non-members // 50€ members
REGISTER
Email at [email protected] to secure your spot
