Dreams in Jungian Therapy

In each of us there is another whom we do not know. [S]He speaks to us in dreams and tells us how differently [s]he sees us from the way we see ourselves. When, therefore, we find ourselves in a difficult situation to which there is no solution, [s]he can sometimes kindle a light that radically alters our attitude. C.G. Jung (1979: Collected Works 10, para. 325).

Dreams and dreams interpretation are central to the practice of Jungian psychotherapy. At one point Jung stated that the analysis of dreams was a therapist’s “professional duty” (Jung 1979: Collected Works 18, para. 476). As long as there were “no counter indications” (that is, as long as a dreamer’s ego was deemed strong enough to interact with unconscious material), he considered dream analysis the most direct and effective way for the individual seeking therapy to discover and assimilate unconscious contents (Jung 1979: Collected Works 16, para 295). Jung believed that psychological problems arose when the conscious mind...