Carl Jung’s Dream Analysis Method

18.12.24

Now that we’ve covered the foundations of Jungian Psychology, we’re ready to further our exploration with Carl Jung’s dream interpretation method. Here’s where everything comes to life, shall we begin with a quote from Marie Von Franz: “The dream one gets at night is always like a letter from the same inner center, from the Self. Every dream is that, and the writer of the letter is always the same: the Self, the one thing, the quid” (Marie Von Franz – Alchemical Active Imagination, p. 67).

Learning how to trust and follow these authentic letters had a tremendous impact on my psychological development. Whenever I’m analyzing my dreams I feel like I’m tapping into this eternal source of knowledge that springs directly from the the Self. We must approach it with reverence and learn its symbolic language to establish a dialogue with the depths of our being. This profound experience has brought me an immense degree of confidence that I’m on the right path and is constantly teaching me how to solve my own problems. Sometimes I get kicked in the face, while in other instances I’m reminded of my true capabilities.

The Prospective Nature of the Psyche – Why and What For?

Learning to interpret dreams is like learning a new idiom, in this case, the metaphorical language of the unconscious. Jung says “[…] One of the basic principles of analytical psychology is that dream-images are to be understood symbolically; that is to say, one must not take them literally, but must surmise a hidden meaning in them” (C. G. Jung – V5 – §4). That said, differently from the conscious mind, the unconscious isn’t bound to moral standards and the laws of time and continuity, it obeys the laws of nature.

As we’ve previously discussed, Jung incorporated both the Freudian and Adlerian perspectives into his psychology. Consequently, when analyzing dreams or any psychological phenomena, we must hold opposing perspectives, namely that of causality and finality. In Jung’s words, “In psychological matters, the question “Why does it happen?” is not necessarily more productive of results than the other question “To what purpose does it happen?” (C. G. Jung – V8 – §530).

This means we can’t interpret unconscious images solely based on causality, that is, seeking to understand the origins or story behind it. This is only half of the equation and promotes a regressive attitude. These symbols also have a purpose and goal, which reveals the prospective and creative nature of the psyche. “The causal standpoint merely inquires how this psyche has become what it is, as we see it today. The constructive standpoint asks how, out of this present psyche, a bridge can be built into its own future” (C. G. Jung – V3 – §399).

Working with the paradox of why and what for? is one of the things that make Jungian Psychology so unique since we understand that in the unconscious lies the embryonic seeds of everything we’re yet to become, and the psyche is constantly creating its own future.

This may sound complex but applying it can be quite simple so let’s explore an example. I had a patient who had frequent dreams revolving around the military and every time he had a visceral reaction of disgust. This is not a surprise since his father was emotionally absent and worked for the police force. Simply put, they didn’t get along well and he was carrying many wounds from this relationship. Now, interpreting the military symbol through the reductive perspective invariably takes us to his father complex, to his past all the stories and memories associated with it. This is an important step to understand how our internal dynamics were formed and how they’re operating, but it’s often a dead end.

At that moment, he was still living with his mother and was struggling to build discipline, and truly commit to finding his own path in life. He was hesitating to become an adult and the qualities that would help him move further were all present in the military symbol. There’s an interesting thing that happens, when we can only appreciate something negatively we also can’t incorporate the positive traits of it. The military can be seen as hostile, violent, and tyrannical. However, in his case, it was compensating for his lack of attitude, discipline, and seeking to become independent.

As the months passed, his perspective about the military symbol started to shift and with it, he also experienced changes in the real world. The prospective portion of the military symbol was propelling him to grow and overcome his father complex, as it anticipated a development of his personality. After two years of working together, he had become independent, disciplined, and committed to his craft.

Before, he could only appreciate authority negatively and this also prevented him from occupying any leadership position. Once he integrated this military symbol by transforming his conscious attitude and making practical changes, he was able to conquer authority over his own life and became a leader in his field. At last, he overcame his father complex and became truly independent.

The Mechanics of Dream Interpretation

Now let’s move to the mechanics of dream interpretation. One thing that we must always have in mind is that the relationship between conscious and unconscious is compensatory and complementary. Also, the conscious attitude acts by selecting – directing – excluding, and everything that is incompatible with conscious values will either be repressed or simply remain unconscious.

These incompatible contents will form our shadow and are the main material for our dreams, as everything that was forsaken has the purpose of balancing our conscious attitude. If this process isn’t clear to you, I strongly recommend that you reread the second chapter on psychodynamics.

Jung says, “[…] The dream is a spontaneous self-portrayal, in symbolic form, of the actual situation in the unconscious” (C. G. Jung – V8 – §505). In other words, a dream is a sneak peek into the unconscious. It helps to envision them as if we were watching a play unfolding in our minds. In this light, I brought a simple dream analysis structure Jung proposes in Structure and Dynamics of The Psyche:

• Dream phases: **Introduction (exposition) – Peripetia (story development) – Lysis (culmination or ending).
• Important elements: Local (environment and context) and Dramatis Personae (characters).

Jung says the first step to analyzing a dream is to establish its context with minute care and to do so, we must stick as close as possible to dream images. He explains that free association can help us uncover our complexes but rarely the true meaning of a dream, that’s why we must follow a circumambulatory process. That is, staying with the symbols and allowing the dream itself to reveal its meaning.

That said, when interpreting dreams, we have to pay close attention to the story that’s being told, It’s crucial to dissect the narrative and have clarity on the sequence of events. It’s interesting to analyze dreams as if they were separated by different acts and be as thorough as we can with our descriptions, as it helps with turning unconscious contents more vivid. Here, it’s important to remember that our psyche is structured around four different functions, consequently, psychic images have four layers: thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition.

The first act is the introduction and we can pair it with describing the local everything takes place. What is the first thing you remember? How’s the environment? And how’s the general emotional atmosphere of this dream? The second act is the peripetia, in other words, what actually happens in the dream. What adventures or misadventures you’re engaged in? What are the conflicts meant to be solved? The third and final act is the lysis. This is the most important one, as it will reveal what the dream is compensating for. In other words, in which direction the Self is trying to take us in order to establish the right balance again.

Once we have the basic structure of a dream, it’s time to gather our personal amplifications also known as associations, also sticking to the circumambulatory process. Marie Von Franz says “Making associations around a theme means plunging it back into the unconscious for a brief moment […] The main point is to focus especially on emotional qualities and sensitivity, not definitions […] You need to really try to rescue the original richness of what that image conveys. That’s why we amplify, and that’s the right way to go. Amplifying means going back as far below the threshold as possible, and reliving those pervasive emotional ideas, sensations, and reactions we have about something”.

For instance, let’s say there’s an important sword in the dream. What do you think about this sword? What emotions or personal stories are associated with it? What is the material and the design? How’s this sword used? What is the particular meaning this sword has to you? We have to follow this process with every single image and character in the dream. That’s why seeking recipes on Google or AI is nonsense. The true meaning always lies within and is unraveled by allowing the symbols to affect us. It’s only when we’re out of personal amplifications that we can look for more collective understandings, such as mythological and archetypal motifs, to enrich our analysis.

Jung also explores the notion of relatively fixed symbols. This means that certain images are closely related to a particular interpretation. For instance, the child tends to symbolize renewal, potential, possibilities, and rebirth. However, this is rather vague, even though this symbol might bear this meaning, what’s important is to understand how this is operating in the individual psyche.

The Subjective x Objective Level

The next important step is to understand if these images should be interpreted on the subjective level or the objective level. In other words, when we’re supposed to interpret the symbols as a subjective part of ourselves or a concrete relationship with the outer world. For instance, when we see our best friend in the dream, do I interpret it as a part of my personality? Or as my actual friend in real life?

Well, Jung says that in about 90% of cases, dreams should be interpreted on the subjective level, and that objective interpretations only become more frequent when someone is advanced in their individuation process. However, I find that we often have a mixed interpretation and this tends to happen when the character in question is close to the dreamer.

In this situation, it’s important to uncover the projections, and at the same time, find guidance on how to deal with said person. Archetypal dreams, or big dreams, are also rarer. When we’re confronted with images from the collective unconscious, we’ll frequently need knowledge of mythological motifs. But even though we’re dealing with primordial images, it’s imperative to understand what role they’re playing for a particular person. In a sense, the interpretation will also be individual.

That said, for the majority of dreams, we should follow this: “The whole dream-work is essentially subjective, and a dream is a theatre in which the dreamer is himself the scene, the player, the prompter, the producer, the author, the public, and the critic. This simple truth forms the basis for a conception of the dream’s meaning which I have called interpretation on the subjective level. Such an interpretation, as the term implies, conceives all the figures in the dream as personified features of the dreamer’s own personality” (C. G. Jung – V8 – §509).

Continuing the “play” metaphor, to properly interpret a dream, we have to first understand its story. Right after, we have to gather our personal amplifications of every image and character in the dream, which are personified complexes and archetypes. In this light, the way we act and the choices we make reveal our deepest psychological tendencies and give us insight into how to resolve our conflicts. Lastly, after we’ve gathered all this information, it’s time to understand what is the dream compensating*.*

The Psychodynamics of Dream Compensation

Jung says, “From all this it should now be clear why I make it a heuristic rule, in interpreting a dream, to ask myself: What conscious attitude does it compensate? By so doing, I relate the dream as closely as possible to the conscious situation; indeed, I would even assert that without knowledge of the conscious situation, the dream can never be interpreted with any degree of certainty. Only in the light of this knowledge is it possible to make out whether the unconscious content carries a plus or a minus sign“ (C. G. Jung – V16.2 – §334).

Moreover, it’s only possible to interpret a dream by knowing the individual context as well as the personal amplifications. Also, Jung establishes that we must work with the premise that we do have an optimum vital point. Which occurs when consciousness is at a perfect balance between the demands of the outer world (persona) and the demands of the inner world (individuation). In that sense, compensation means equilibrating or substituting the conscious attitude, by comparing different data or points of view, so as to produce an adjustment or a rectification.

In this light, in Structures and Dynamics of The Psyche, Jung explores three possibilities:

• If the conscious attitude to the life situation is in large degree one-sided, then the dream takes the opposite side.
• If the conscious has a position fairly near the “middle,” the dream is satisfied with variations.
• If the conscious attitude is “correct” (adequate), then the dream coincides with and emphasizes this tendency, though without forfeiting its peculiar autonomy.

To illustrate this, Jung gives us an interesting example in Practice of Psychotherapy, pay close attention to how the interpretation changes depending on the conscious attitude. First, a young man dreams of a horse jumping over a ravine. His conscious attitude is always hesitant and he’s scared to pursue his own path in life. Consequently, the dream is telling him to be bold and take risks, after all, the first half of life is meant to seek expansion and strengthen the ego complex.

In contrast, a man in his mid-50s has the exact same dream, but he was always courageous and able to conquer his life. In that sense, the dream reveals the origins of his neurosis and highlights that it’s time to leave this youthful attitude behind since in the second half of life, energy must be directed to enrich his inner life.

Now, “For dream-contents to be assimilated, it is of overriding importance that no real values of the conscious personality should be damaged, much less destroyed, otherwise, there is no one left to do the assimilating […] We must see to it that the values of the conscious personality remain intact, for unconscious compensation is only effective when it co-operates with an integral consciousness. Assimilation is never a question of “this or that,” but always of “this and that” (C. G. Jung – V16.2 – §338).

Interpreting dreams is always a challenge to our conscious attitude, and maintaining our ground can be difficult at times. But we have to understand that it’s a dialectical procedure between our conscious values and the perspective of the unconscious since integrating dream messages requires a moral confrontation and making practical changes.

Moreover, dreams often exacerbate their contents “to make a point”, that’s why we can’t blindly follow them. We must find a middle ground and understand what’s being demanded of us. Here’s an interesting example, individuals who tend to avoid conflict and engage in people-pleasing frequently have dreams in which they’re screaming at the top of their lungs at the people who cross their boundaries.

If you take the dream literally, you wouldn’t take any responsibility, believe other people are always the problem and start yelling at everyone the next day. Now, if we follow Jung’s method you’d see these characters as a representation of your own complexes that make you engage with the external world as a people-pleaser.

Moreover, you’d apply the questions why and what for? And everything we already learned about how to deal with complexes. But to keep things simple, in this context, the dream is compensating for a lack of boundaries and assertiveness, in that sense, it’d be important to understand the exact areas and relationships that require open communication, placing healthy boundaries, and committing to learning to better express yourself.

General Guidelines

Dream interpretation is an art and only practice can make you good at it. The way I learned to interpret dreams was by first working with an analyst myself, devouring Jung’s collected works, and then interpreting countless dreams of my patients. Nowadays, I’m confident interpreting most of my dreams and they have become a valuable compass on my journey. But every now and then, I still have dreams that get me absolutely puzzled for days and I have to seek help.

In these moments, I always remember Von Frans used to say that trying to interpret our own dreams is like trying to see our own backs, as dreams come from our blind spots and reveal what we don’t know. That said, rushing with interpretations is often a sign that we interpreted them through the lenses of our neurosis. That’s why a thorough understanding of our conscious attitude and psychological tendencies is imperative, otherwise, you’ll remain with one-sided interpretations.

That said, I’ll leave a few extra tips for interpreting dreams:

• Always interpret the characters subjectively first, as there’s a great chance you’re watching your own complexes.
• Always interpret dreams in a positive and a negative light, be careful if you’re enamored with one perspective.
• Always interpret dreams through a reductive and prospective perspective – Why and what for?.
• In the beginning, don’t make any major decisions, rushing can be a sign of a neurotic interpretation.
• Always remember that dreams come from the inferior function and analyzing it only from the perspective of the main function will result in a neurotic interpretation.

Lastly, Jung used to say that the only criteria for a dream being successfully interpreted was if it helped the patient move forward. In other words, if the interpretation unlocks new perspectives and a new attitude that can solve conflicts, then it’s a good enough interpretation. Plus, a degree of certainty only comes after analyzing a series of dreams and getting acquainted with frequent symbols and motifs.

Rafael Krüger – Live an Audacious Life

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