Jungian Dream Interpretation

Maxson J. McDowell
Start Date: 23/02/2026
End Date:23/03/2026
Scheduled course
Online

Overview

A dream uses an imagistic language we can decipher. This language is universal, the same as used in myths from stone-age cultures. A dream shows us the next possible step in our developing personality. It warns us if we are going astray, encourages us if we need it, or offers penetrating insights into our confusion.

This class should be fun. We will work together each week to interpret a dream knowing only the dream text, and the dreamer’s age and gender identity. Then we will test our interpretation against what else the bringer of the dream can tell us about the dreamer. Each week you will learn more about the technique of interpretation that began with Jung and von Franz, was brought to New York by Edward Whitmont, and that this instructor has further developed. We will not work with class members’ dreams. Please bring a dream, with permission, from a family member or friend.

Open to the public.

7.5 CE contact hours for licensed NYS Social Workers, Psychoanalysts and Creative Arts Therapists.

On completion of this class, you will be able to:

1. Distinguish between associations, explanations, and amplifications to a dream image.
2. Distinguish between Freud’s and Jung’s use of associations to dream images.
3. Identify which part of a dream gives the current psychological situation.
4. Recognize the dream’s setting and its importance.
5. Practice using both logic and imagination in dream analysis.
6. Identify some physiological reactions of the dreamer which demonstrate a useful interpretation.
7. Describe the relationship between a dream and the dreamer’s psychological progress.
8. Recognize when a dream may (or may not) be helpful in clinical work.
9. Recognize what Jung meant by a “true symbol.”

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