5 Reason to Practice (and Teach) Dream Interpretation: Reason 3

One of the most important reasons to do the work on one’s own dreams is that dreams can lead to self-awareness. This is perhaps one of the most important aspects of human development; as the personality matures the sense of self and self-awareness becomes more prominent.

Dream imagery can aid in the process of revealing personality traits to the dreamer, illustrate behaviours that may be unconsciously engaged in, and of course, reveal blind spots that are so often present. Dream imagery will play out the parts of the self that need to be acknowledged or even changed. The first crucial step is that parts of the self must be in conscious awareness and then, possibly changed.


It appears from dream research and practice that recurring dreams are often of this nature. When a important part of the self is being revealed in a dream, the imagery will continue to play out in the mind of the dreamer until the dreamer makes changes in waking day. People are often perplexed and bothered by their own recurring dreams but the solution appears to lie in the connection to waking day. If a dream is revealing a personality trait (e.g. chronic worry, anger, low-conscientiousness, emotional instability etc.), then once the dreamer acknowledges this in self-awareness and begins to make appropriate changes in waking day (e.g. tries to distract the mind instead of constantly worrying), then the recurring dream imagery will stop.

Perhaps one of the most significant processes in human development is that of self-awareness. This is the point where we begin to see ourselves in the full spectrum of our being (the good and the bad), we begin to engage in reflexive consciousness (we look back on ourselves) and then we engage in more consciously aware thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Dream imagery can be a gateway into the process of fully becoming one’s self.