Nighttime Narratives : Dreams As A Gateway In Therapy

Have you had dreams that were wild, confusing, and bizarre? Ever woke up and thought, "What was that about?" You're not alone. Dreams have the ability to gather deep feelings, desires, and unresolved issues, spreading them into your night's sleep—something the conscious mind cannot do. 

Offering a glimpse into our inner world, dream work is a potent tool for insight into these deep, murky waters. With our defenses down, the subconscious weaves stories that hint at what needs emotional processing.

Fritz Perls—a Gestalt thinker—introduced a hands-on dream work, suggesting that everything in a dream—person, animal, or object—is part of how the dreamer feels. Dream of a closed elevator? It can suggest feeling trapped—in a relationship, work life, situation, etc. Gestalt dream work encourages you to "become" and play out different elements of your dream. In doing so, you experience the emotion felt by that element and attempt to connect it with your present life. This insightful approach allows you to drop your defenses and experience, own, and accept emotions.

An Example In Practice

Priya had a tendency to suppress emotions, engage in pleasing people, and struggle with her boundaries. In therapy, we identified that this behavior was learned from her mother. As we worked through her need to be ‘strong’ and ‘perfect,’ this dream emerged: 

“It’s a hot day in a village. There is a big mud house. It has thick, sturdy walls and two doors—one in the front, one at the back. My mother and I are sitting inside the mud house, talking softly. We both seem mellow and are speaking in hushed tones. All of a sudden, this huge snake, like an anaconda, appears out of nowhere and enters the front door of the mud house! I panic and tell my mother, ‘Let’s do something!’ My mother says, ‘No, lie down; just lie down; it’ll be fine.’ I don’t like it, but I lie down. The snake crawls over both of us. It’s mighty, disgusting, and slimy; and it glides over us. We feel disgusted by how it moves over us, and then, it goes out the other door.”

Using the Gestalt technique, we listed each element of the dream: Priya, her mother, the mud house, and the snake. I then asked her to “become” each element, play it out in the first person, and narrate what each character is seeing, feeling, and experiencing from their point of view.

Mud house: “I’m the mud house. I’m calm, collected and steady. I have hard exteriors. I see the snake glide over Priya and her mother, but I don’t feel bad. I’m just seeing something horrific happen.”

Priya: “I’m in this mud house. My mum is talking to me. We are talking very quietly; it’s solemn. I see the big, black, disgusting snake and panic. I want to run or do something. I hate the snake. I tell my mom, ‘Let’s do something,’ and she says, ‘No, lie down; don’t move; it’ll go away.’ It reminds me of how she approaches every problem—she always lies down and takes the pain, even if it’s not her fault.”

Mother: “Priya and I are sitting and talking. There is some sadness in the hut. All of a sudden, a snake comes from behind. It is big and scary, but I think lying down is the best option. We don’t need to try to fight it or do anything. I’ve learned that if you lie down, the problem will be solved.”

Snake: “I am the snake. I enter this mud house. I have no intention to harm anyone. I come and go as I please. I am strong, powerful; I do what I want.”

Then, we explored the feelings across the different elements:

Therapist: "The mud house seems to be calm and collected, even when it says it’s seeing something horrible happen. Do you relate to this in your real life?"

Priya: "I think I do. I see things happen at home that I don’t have control over, but I don’t say anything. I keep quiet when I see injustices, even injustices towards me."

Therapist: "How do you feel as Priya’s character?"

Priya: "I feel helpless. My mother has always been someone who gets walked over. I’m angry that she did the same in the dream. It’s painful."

Therapist: "Tell me about the snake. How do you feel about the snake?"

Priya: "The snake is disgusting. Why did it have to go over me like that? Ugh, I feel repulsed!"

Therapist: "Let’s look at the dream. The mud house seems calm but uncomfortable. Priya seems angry. The mother seems sad, feeling like lying down is the only option. But the snake—the snake doesn’t seem to have a negative emotion. It literally says, ‘I come and go as I please; I am powerful.’ If you had a choice, what character would you be in this dream?"

Priya: "Oh gosh, I never thought of it like this. I’d like to be the snake!"

After this session, something shifted within Priya. She began embracing the idea of being “powerful, doing what she wants.” She also reflected on why she was so against the “mighty snake” and how she’d shied away from being assertive. Over the course of the sessions, Priya claimed agency over her life and committed to making changes.

Introducing Dream Work to Clients

You might wonder, How do I even bring up dream work with my clients? Don't worry—it doesn’t have to be intimidating. Here are some easy and direct ways to get started:

Ask your client if they’ve had any dreams lately. You’d be surprised how often clients will respond with, “Well, I did have this one strange dream…” It’s a natural way to dive in without making it feel too heavy. You could say something like, “Dreams are a great way to explore what’s going on inside us—sometimes they reveal things we haven’t thought of consciously. Wanna give it a try?”

Ask your client about specific images or emotions in their dreams. What stands out to them? What striking visuals do they remember? Remember, symbols must not be taken at their face value. Deep waters, for example, may mean different things for different individuals; what’s important is how the client relates to that element and what feeling it evokes for them. 

Suggest that clients keep a notebook by their bed and jot down any dreams they remember as soon as they wake up. Dreams can be fleeting, so catching them right away is key. Over time, revealing patterns or recurring themes might emerge.

In Gestalt dream work, you can have clients “become” different parts of their dream. If they dreamt about a storm, you might ask them, “If you were the storm, what would you say or feel?” This technique can help clients connect with different facets of themselves.

Dreams aren’t random—they offer clues and insights into what’s really going on. For therapists, dream work provides a  creative way to dive deep. And who knows? That next wild, confusing dream might just hold the key to your client’s big breakthrough!