DREAMWORK, Active Imagination, Expressive Arts & Movement

JUNGIAN DREAMWORK

"The dream is a little hidden door in the innermost and most secret recesses of the soul...There he is still the whole, and the whole is in him, indistinguishable from nature and bare of all egohood."  ( C. G. Jung, Collected Works, Volume 10)

The Meaning and Significance of Dreams

In Jungian psychology, dreams offer a profound pathway into the unconscious—the vast realm of inner experience that lives beneath ordinary awareness. Dreams communicate indirectly, through symbolic imagery, emotions, sensations, and instinctive responses. By working with dreams, we bring what is unconscious into consciousness, allowing deeper understanding, healing, and transformation to unfold. 

In Jungian dreamwork, we listen carefully to the language of symbols and images that arise in your dreams. Over time, we may notice how these images shift and evolve, reflecting meaningful changes in your inner life and in your relationships with yourself, others, and what Jung called the Self—the organizing center of the psyche. 

Dreams often connect us with the spiritual and archetypal dimensions of human experience. They can restore psychological balance when conscious life becomes disconnected from instinct, nature, or inner truth. At times, dreams function as healing correctives or balms, gently re-establishing equilibrium in the psyche. 

Occasionally, people experience what Jung called “big” or “great” dreams—powerful, illuminating dreams that arise during major transitions. These dreams may feel numinous, symbolic, or "prospective" in quality, and often carry meaning that is both deeply personal and broadly human. They may orient us toward growth, renewal, and new possibilities emerging within the psyche. 

In our work together, we explore your dreams collaboratively and with care. The aim is not simply interpretation, but integration—allowing the meaning, energy, and wisdom of the dream to support healing, psychological development, and a more meaningful life. 

As Jung wrote: 

“The dream itself is a natural and necessary expression of the life force...Like a flower or a hurricane or a human gesture, its basic purpose is the manifestation and expression of this life force. It gives us images of energy, synthesizing past and present, personal and collective experiences.” (Memories, Dreams and Reflections, p. 161-162) 

Through understanding dreams, we connect with the living source of psychic energy—the life force that fuels creativity, transformation, and lifelong process Jung called individuation, the unfolding of who we are meant to become. 

Deepening Into the Wisdom of Imagination and the Body

"Every good idea and all creative work are the offspring of the imagination...The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable." (C. G. Jung, Collected Works, Vol. 6)

Depth psychotherapy invites us to listen not only to thoughts, but also to the imagination, sensation, and embodied experience. The psyche expresses itself through images, movement, and felt experience just as much as through words. 

My work integrates Jungian analysis with expressive arts, and somatic awareness and practices that allow unconscious material to emerge in living form. 

Active Imagination

Active imagination is a central method in Jungian psychology. It involves turning inward and allowing images, emotions, sensations, and inner figures to emerge spontaneously, while remaining consciously present and reflective. 

Rather than analyzing experience from a distance, we enter into a living relationship with what arises from the unconscious. Through creative expression—drawing, writing, movement, sounds or symbolic dialogue—inner material becomes visible, embodied, and meaningful. 

Jung emphasized the importance of relating to these inner experiences while maintaining awareness: "The essential thing is to differentiate oneself from these unconscious contents...and at the same time to bring them into relationship with consciousness." (C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams and Reflections, 1961) 

Active imagination allows unconscious material to unfold in ways that support psychological integration, creativity, and transformation. My work with the expressive arts and authentic movement is deeply grounded in these principles, as well as in somatic psychology. 

Authentic Movement

Authentic movement is a contemplative, embodied practice that brings awareness to the somatic unconscious—the psyche as it lives and speaks through the body. 

In this practice, the mover follows impulses arising from within, allowing gestures, sensations, emotions, and images to take form through movement. The body becomes a vehicle for expression and discovery. Movement may reveal memories, symbolic experiences, or deeply felt states that have not yet found words. The embodied material can be understood as communication from deeper layers of the psyche—expressions of the unconscious or the Self seeking recognition and integration. 

How These Practices Are Used in Psychotherapy and Jungian Analysis

In our sessions, we may work in dialogue, or we may deepen into direct experience. You might choose to explore a dream image, emotion, memory, sensation, or intuition that arises in the moment. 

I may invite you to slow down, notice your breath, and turn attention inward. From this place of inner listening, we allow imagination and body awareness to guide the process. We explore what emerges—psychologically, symbolically, and somatically. 

 At times, expressive arts practices may support this work. You may choose drawing, writing, movement, sounds, or sandplay to give form to inner experience. I describe this as "dreaming the dream onward"—allowing images to unfold, develop, and reveal their meaning through creative engagement. This process deepens contact with the psyche and and allows unconscious material to become lived, embodied, and integrated. 

A Living Process of Transformation

Whether we are speaking together, exploring dreams, engaging imagination, or listening to the wisdom of the body, the intention of our work is the same:

To support healing

To facilitate growth and transformation

To help you live with greater meaning, vitality, and psychological wholeness.

Through Jungian analysis, dreamwork, active imagination, and embodied awareness, we cultivate an ongoing relationship with the deeper life of the psyche—the source of creativity, insight, and authentic becoming. 

Picture: "Doors," Chaco Canyon, New Mexico