What is dream therapy?

What is dream therapy?

What is dream therapy, and what does a dream therapist do?

If you are skilled in understanding and working with dreams, you might consider offering your services as a dream interpreter, a dream analyst, a dream alchemist, or a dream therapist. Or you might choose to facilitate a dream group, or to introduce dream exploration as an adjunct to your work with clients in a related field.

So, let’s distinguish between some of these offerings before focussing on dream therapy and being a dream therapist.

A dream analyst

In a nutshell, a dream analyst aims to lay every element of a dream on the table and to use these elements to reveal aspects of the dreamer’s conscious and unconscious mindset. Dream analysis is the ultimate dream detective work. It’s ideal for intensely curious clients who want no stone left unturned.

A dream interpreter

A dream interpreter finds the best words to explain the meaning of a dream, saving the dreamer the laborious details of dream analysis. A proficient dream interpreter will first analyse the dream then move it into dreamer-friendly language. A detailed dream interpretation will point to some symbols or dramas or sequences in the dream to illustrate (or prove) how the interpretation is derived from the dream. It’s an illustrative process rather than a deeply all-encompassing one. It’s ideal for clients who want to understand and appreciate the meaning of a dream without getting bogged down in analytical detail.

There’s a place for offering less detailed dream interpretation, stepping a long way back from the details and giving an overview focussing on one or two key insights the dreamer can take from the dream. It’s wise to incorporate a couple of notes to show how the interpretation is derived from the dream, but the emphasis is on delivering a key insight the client can take to heart. It’s ideal for clients who want to try a dream interpretation for the first time (after which they are ready to explore more detailed options), or for clients who like to check in, from time to time, with their own understanding of a dream, to see if they’re on track.

A dream alchemist

A dream alchemist creates specific unique exercises (practices) for a client to do to help reprogram limiting unconscious patterns identified through a dream. It’s a powerfully transformative and healing process, ideal for clients who are ready to welcome positive change into their life. A dream alchemist must first be a proficient dream analyst, as the process relies on identifying the unconscious limiting patterns before creating their remedies. A dream alchemist will generally offer a service that combines dream analysis or dream interpretation with dream alchemy. Dream alchemy can also be incorporated into dream therapy (and usually is).

A dream therapist

A dream therapist provides a form of psychotherapy, where each session is guided by the dream the client brings. Together the dream therapist and client explore the client’s rich inner world, through the dream, with a focus on resolving issues the client wishes to address, or developing qualities the client wishes to develop, or simply being guided by the raw material gifted by the dream.

Sometimes a whole session can revolve around exploring a single symbol, how it relates to the client’s life, and the healing or potential it offers. At other times, a dream might be explored in broader detail, identifying themes and patterns in the dream and in waking life, discovering patterns that either need to be transformed or need to be enhanced and given more life. Other sessions might focus on reconnecting to vital lost parts of the self, glimpsed in the dream, or healing hurts, or liberating what needs to be let go to leave space for new growth and opportunities.

Most dream therapy sessions include dream alchemy to accelerate healing and transformation.

A dream therapist needs to be proficient at dream analysis, dream interpretation, and dream alchemy, and able to form a quick picture of the meaning of the dream as the client relates it. This quick picture informs the dream therapist of possible ways to move through the dream therapy session.

Dream therapy, whether conducted physically face to face in a room, or by Zoom (or a similar visual platform), or by phone, is on ongoing process, like other forms of psychotherapy. Around 12 sessions on a weekly or two-weekly basis provide an optimum balance of continuity and time to reflect, absorb, and grow, though many clients continue in dream therapy for years once they experience the rich rewards each individual session brings.

More details:

Become a dream therapist