Even the most thoughtful, motivated clients can reach a point where therapy seems to stall. Insights have been named, trauma explored, defenses softened—yet something vital remains untouched.
There’s a sense of circling, but not quite shifting.
This is often when dreams begin to speak.
Dreams offer more than reflections of daily life—they carry messages from deeper layers of the psyche. They illuminate what’s hidden, offer images the soul understands, and sometimes deliver the precise nudge needed to move the work forward.
Working with dreams invites a different kind of listening—one that opens space for mystery, imagination, and transformation.
1. Dreams Illuminate What’s Beneath the Surface
Much of what shapes our inner world lies outside conscious awareness. Dreams can shine light into these deeper spaces, often introducing aspects of the self that have been rejected, suppressed, or forgotten.
For example, a person may dream of a radiant woman quietly living in a back room of their childhood home. She feels deeply familiar, yet unknown. This figure may represent inner confidence, intuition, or strength—qualities once pushed aside.
Engaging with such a dream image helps clients reclaim these parts of themselves in waking life.
2. Symbols Speak Beyond Logic
Insight isn’t always enough. The language of logic can sometimes keep clients in their heads—especially when it supports a defense mechanism.
Dreams, by contrast, speak in symbol and emotion.
They bypass intellect and reach the heart.
A dream image—like finding a new bridge, a sealed letter, or a wild animal—can carry more emotional truth than a full hour of discussion. It’s not just about interpreting them, but feeling them. They stir something deeper, often revealing what can’t yet be spoken.
3. Dreams Express What Words Cannot
Clients don’t always have language for their internal experiences.
Dreams may express fears, desires, or inner conflicts still forming below the surface. A client might repeatedly dream of trying to speak but having no voice—or endlessly searching for something they cannot find.
These dreams often point to themes like silencing, longing, or grief.
When shared in therapy, they offer a fuller, richer view of what’s alive inside.
4. Dreams Invite Mystery and Reverence
When a client brings a dream into therapy, it’s an invitation.
It’s not something to rush or solve. Dreams deserve to be received slowly, with curiosity and respect. Meaning may not arrive all at once—and that’s okay.
Dreams carry paradox and ambiguity.
Learning to sit with a dream—much like sitting with a poem or a painting—lets its symbolic and emotional depth unfold naturally. This approach enriches the therapeutic space, allowing imagination and intuition to complement insight.
5. Dreams Awaken a Deeper Sense of Meaning
Some dreams connect us to something larger than ourselves.
They don’t require any specific belief system—just a willingness to listen.
A dream of an elderly woman by a fire saying, “You’re ready now,” can evoke awe and a sense of readiness. These dreams often mark threshold moments: the shift from surviving to becoming, or from healing into transformation.
They invite clients to step into new phases of life with greater awareness and courage.
6. Dreams Offer Glimpses of What’s to Come
Not all dreams look backward—some look ahead.
They may show what is emerging, what’s possible, or where a client is intuitively headed. For example, someone feeling disoriented in life might dream of standing at a train station with no map, but a ticket in hand.
There’s no clear answer—but there is direction, readiness, and trust.
When clients bring these dreams into therapy, they stay grounded during uncertain transitions, anchored by an inner knowing that something within them already sees the next step.
Why I Work With Dreams
Dreams aren’t just interesting stories or diagnostic tools.
They’re part of the healing process itself.
Dreams bring soul into the room. They often name what neither client nor therapist has yet been able to articulate. And they speak in layers—emotional, personal, and spiritual.
To work with a dream is not to solve it, but to receive it.
Like poetry or art, dreams deserve our attention and care.
We listen. We explore. We wonder.
And in that process, something begins to move.
Encouraging Dreamwork in Your Practice
If therapy feels stuck, ask about dreams—even fragments. Invite clients to write them down or bring in images that feel meaningful.
Making room for dream material opens a deeper kind of listening.
Dreams remind us that healing isn’t always linear.
Sometimes, the psyche speaks in metaphor, in image, in mystery.
As therapists, learning to receive that language can bring new life into the work.
💬 Want to Explore This Further?
If you're interested in integrating dreamwork into your clinical practice—or simply curious about how dreams might deepen the therapeutic process—reach out to me at awakepresence@gmail.com or call or start by reflecting on your own dreams.
What might they be asking you to hear?