Dream Work: A New Chapter in My Practice

I’ve always been fascinated by my dreams, especially the vivid ones that stay with me. I love hearing about other people’s dreams too, when friends and family enthusiastically share theirs, I’m fully engaged. Some people find listening to dreams utterly boring, but not me, I listen with wonder, amazed at how our minds create such rich, symbolic, yet seemingly random stories while we sleep. Dreams can also evoke such strong feelings. Have you ever had a dream that your partner has cheated on you? or been mean? and you have woken up the next day feeling genuinely hurt, as if it really happened? It’s incredible how our minds can create experiences so vivid that they stay with us even though we are now awake and it didn't actually happen!

My fascination with dreams isn’t just about the images that appear at night it’s also about the way the unconscious mind speaks to us in unexpected ways. Every morning, I wake up with a new song in my head, like I have my own internal DJ. I even started a playlist on Spotify called Morning Dreams, where I compile the songs that come up. It’s always a surprise, some are absolute bangers, that I had totally forgotten about in my day to day life and some just totally weird and random.

Now, I am an avid podcast listener, and my all-time favourite, the one I never miss, is This Jungian Life.

Hosted by three Jungian analysts, Joseph, Deb, and Lisa, the podcast explores archetypes that live within us and in the collective. At the end of each episode, they analyse a listener-submitted dream, treating it as a message from the unconscious. I find this utterly fascinating, it sparks my curiosity every time.

While my own counselling practice is person-centred, I know that in psychodynamic and Jungian therapy, dream analysis plays a significant role in the therapeutic process. I’m excited about the possibility of exploring dreams with my clients, should they wish to, as I feel it will enrich the overall experience. So, as part of my own continued personal development, I’ve enrolled in Dream School, a course developed by Joseph, Deb, and Lisa (first-name terms because, in my mind, we’re already friends, I’m a huge fan!). I’m doing this not only to deepen my work as a therapist but also just for fun, purely for the joy of indulging in something that fascinates me. Joseph Campbell once said, “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.” I love this quote and try to live by it, especially now that I’m 45. More than ever, I want to fill my time with things that truly interest me, rather than getting bogged down in tasks that feel like a chore.

The idea behind dream work is that our unconscious mind speaks to us every night when our conscious mind is less active. It communicates in symbolism, offering us insights into what we’re processing and new perspectives that can help us on our journey. Carl Jung put it beautifully: “Dreams are the guiding words of the soul. Why should I henceforth not love my dreams and not make their riddling images into objects of my daily consideration?”

The first task in Dream School is to choose a dream diary. You then ceremoniously ask your dream-maker to send you dreams. Every morning upon waking, you record whatever you remember, no matter how small. Even if it’s just a single fragment, you write it down. The goal is to develop the habit of paying attention to your dreams, opening the door to the wisdom they have to offer. I am already getting some amazing insights personally and I have had some fun working with some friends dreams.

Working with the images that appear in dreams is different for each person, making it a very much a person-centred approach. You begin with the mindset of, ‘I have no idea what this dream means to the dreamer,’ and from there, you explore the possibilities together, seeing what resonates. I will try to explain…. take an object that might show up in a dream, let’s say, a table. You can’t just look it up in a dream dictionary and expect a universal meaning. It’s much more nuanced than that. How did the table appear in the dream? What emotions surrounded it? What colour, size, and texture did it have? For one person, a table might evoke happy memories of Sunday roasts with family, for another, it could be tied to tense family arguments or the feeling of being forced to finish every bite of food before leaving the table. The meaning is unique to the dreamer.

Sometimes, archetypal images appear, for example, an old woman, an animal, or even a mythological creature. When this happens, you can explore different myths and stories that contain similar symbols and see if any of their messages resonate with the dreamer. It’s also important to note that, in many cases, every aspect of a dream represents a different part of the dreamer’s own psyche. For example, dreaming of a child may symbolise the dreamer’s inner child, their vulnerability, creativity, or past experiences seeking recognition. Likewise, a man in a dream may represent the dreamer’s masculine energy, such as assertiveness or logic, while a woman may symbolise their feminine side, linked to intuition or nurturing qualities. Exploring these symbols can offer deep personal insights and a richer understanding of ourselves.

I’m no expert, I’m still learning, but I’m really enjoying the process. Dream work is opening up new ways of understanding the mind, and I’m excited to see how it enriches my work with clients. Whether dreams are vivid and symbolic or just fleeting impressions, I love the idea of exploring them together, seeing what insights emerge, and what hidden gems we can find through the unconscious.

If dreams fascinate you and you've found my website while considering counselling, I just want to put it out there that this is something I offer. While I’m still developing my skills in dream work, I’m more than happy to explore this with you during our sessions.

Wishing you well

Zoe