Working With Dreams in Therapy: What to Expect
“The dream is the small hidden door in the deepest and most intimate sanctum of the soul, which opens to that primeval cosmic night that was soul long before there was conscious ego and will be soul far beyond what a conscious ego could ever reach.” C.G. Jung
Many people are intrigued by their dreams, yet unsure whether they are worth paying attention to. Others arrive in therapy carrying a vivid dream they can’t stop thinking about, a recurring nightmare, or a sense that their dreams are trying to tell them something important.
If you’ve never explored dreams in therapy before, you may wonder what actually happens. Will your therapist tell you what your dream means? What if your dream seems completely bizarre?
Why Do Therapists Work With Dreams?
Working with dreams in an ancient practice and has been explored in psychotherapy for over a century. While therapists hold different views about exactly what dreams are, many agree that they can offer a unique window into our inner world.
Dreams often express thoughts, feelings, conflicts and possibilities that may not be fully available to us in everyday consciousness. They can reflect our emotional state, highlight unresolved experiences, reveal patterns in our relationships, or point towards aspects of ourselves that need attention.
Unlike our waking minds, which tend to explain, justify and rationalise, dreams communicate through images, emotions, stories and symbols. They speak a different language.
This doesn’t mean dreams predict the future or contain a single hidden message waiting to be decoded. Rather, they can provide a rich starting point for self-exploration and insight.
There Is No “Correct” Interpretation
One of the biggest misconceptions about dream work is that the therapist acts as an expert interpreter. As your therapist, I can work as your dream guide, but most contemporary approaches to dream work recognise that the dream belongs to the dreamer.
While certain images may carry common cultural associations, a snake, house, ocean or child may mean something entirely different to one person than another. What matters most is your personal meaning and emotional resonance of the dream.
In therapy, we become curious about the dream together. Rather than asking, “What does this symbol mean?” we might ask:
- What feelings arise when you think about this dream?
- What stands out most strongly?
- Does any part of the dream remind you of situations in your waking life?
- What associations come to mind when you think about a particular image or character?
- If this dream could speak, what might it be trying to say?
Through this process, the dream often begins to unfold naturally, revealing connections that feel meaningful and relevant to your life.
What Happens During Dream Work?
If you bring a dream to therapy, your therapist will usually invite you to describe it in as much detail as you can remember. Often, the smallest details can prove surprisingly significant: a colour, a feeling, a location, or a seemingly insignificant character. As we explore the dream, we may pay attention to:
The Emotional Landscape
How did you feel in the dream? Fear, excitement, shame, grief, joy, anger or confusion can provide important clues. Sometimes dreams allow us to experience emotions that have been difficult to access during waking life.
Symbols and Images
Dreams often communicate through imagery rather than logic. A locked door, a collapsing building, a journey, an animal or an unknown stranger may all carry personal significance. Rather than imposing a fixed interpretation, we explore what these images evoke for you.
Patterns and Themes
Recurring dreams can be particularly valuable. If similar themes appear repeatedly, such as being chased, trapped, lost, late, or unable to speak, it may suggest that something in your life is asking for attention. Many people find that recurring dreams evolve over time as they work through underlying issues.
Connections to Everyday Life
Dreams are not separate from our waking experience. As we explore them, links often emerge between the dream and current challenges, relationships, life transitions, past experiences or future possibilities. Sometimes a dream can illuminate something we already know but have struggled to acknowledge. At other times, it may reveal a completely new perspective.
Dream Work and Trauma
Dream work can be especially meaningful for people who have experienced trauma.
Traumatic experiences are often stored in ways that are not purely verbal. Dreams may express aspects of these experiences through images, sensations and emotions.
Nightmares and recurring dreams can sometimes reflect unresolved distress, although they should never be interpreted in a simplistic or literal way.
When working with trauma, it is important that dream exploration proceeds carefully and at a pace that feels safe. The aim is not to force interpretation but to create space for understanding, integration and healing.
Dream work can also reveal strengths, resilience and resources that may not yet be fully recognised.
What If I Rarely Remember My Dreams?
Many people believe they don’t dream, but in fact almost everyone does.
Often it’s simply a matter of not remembering.
If you would like to explore dreams in therapy, it can help to keep a notebook beside your bed and write down anything you recall on waking, even fragments or emotions.
However, dream work is never a requirement. Therapy can be valuable whether or not you remember your dreams. If dreams naturally arise, we can explore them; if they don’t, there are many other ways of understanding your experience.
The Value of Dream Work
Perhaps the most powerful aspect of dream work is that it invites us into a different relationship with ourselves.
In a culture that often values logic, productivity and certainty, dreams remind us that there is another kind of wisdom available. They encourage curiosity rather than judgement, imagination rather than control.
Many people find that working with dreams helps them gain greater clarity about their lives, deepen self-understanding, and discover new possibilities for growth and change.
Dreams do not provide ready-made answers. But when approached with openness and curiosity, they can offer surprising insights into who we are, what we need, and where life may be inviting us to grow.
If you are interested in exploring your dreams in therapy with me, you don’t need to have a perfectly remembered dream, all you need is a willingness to be curious. Together, we can explore what your dreams may be revealing about your inner world and how they connect with the challenges and opportunities in your life today.
You can reach out to me to set up a free 20 min call and you can read more about Dream work here.