What is Dream Therapy?
I recently launched my website and it seemed to raise more questions then it answered. So I decided to start a substack to explore the subject that interests me most - Dreams!
My name is Allegra Shorto and I’m a dream therapist. After years of practising I recently decided to launch a website to make my services more accessible. I realised that to a lot of people the subject feels quite mysterious. Which brought me to Substack.
So. What is Dream Therapy?
In very simple terms, dream therapy or dreamwork (as it’s also known) is a lot like traditional therapy, only using a dream to jump-start the conversation. I meet with my clients once a week for an hour. The conversation starts with a dream. It acts as a gateway, revealing what truly matters to us, cutting straight to the core of a client’s underlying concerns.
I have found that traditional therapy can sometimes be repetitive and it can be hard to talk ourselves out of a problem. Dreams bypass this by speaking in vivid images and emotions, cutting through our usual mental chatter to reveal fresh perspectives on our inner conflicts and potential for growth. Think of a dream as a Trojan horse, slipping past the gates of our conscious mind under the guise of fantastical stories, only to reveal messages from our unconscious.
If any of this sounds interesting to you and you want to try dream therapy for yourself, just email me at allegrashorto@gmail.com or visit my website to book a session.
What if I don’t remember my dreams?
This is often the first question I’m asked when I meet people. Can I work with my dreams if I don’t remember them?
Remembering dreams is a muscle anyone can train. Although some of the people I work with are avid dreamers, others barely remembered their dreams when we started! The more you work with your dreams, the more frequently they come and the easier to remember. We can also work with older dreams and can even use a situation in your life as though it were a dream narrative.
How can dreams help me?
If you’re not used to working with your dreams, I understand the natural skepticism around trying to distil the often irrational into a droplet of wisdom. But time and again I’m amazed at the ability of the unconscious to spin tales out of our anxieties: dreams externalise our inner world and have something profound to teach us. Here’s how they can help:
Understand Your Whole Self Dreams show you parts of yourself you might not know about. They bring forward thoughts, feelings, and desires you might push aside during the day. By paying attention to your dreams, you get to know your full self better.
Guide Personal Growth Pay attention to recurring themes or symbols in your dreams. They often point to areas of your life that need attention or development.
Solve Problems Your unconscious mind keeps working on your problems even when you're asleep. Dreams can offer new perspectives or solutions you hadn't thought of while awake.
Boost Creativity Dreams are a rich source of creative ideas. They combine images and concepts in new ways, which can inspire you in your waking life.
How do I get started?
Keep a record of your dreams: equip yourself with paper and pen, a recording device or keep your phone by your bed.
Set an intention: Before sleep, tell yourself you want to remember your dreams.
Record your dreams: Upon waking, write down or record any feeling, sensation or fragment you remember.
Ask yourself a few simple questions: what is this dream trying to tell me? What feeling was I left with?
Follow this Substack: I'll be sharing exercises and techniques you can do daily to work with your dreams.
What's the format of this Substack and how do I follow along?
Over the next few weeks, I'll be distilling known dream theories into a digestible format and turning their ideas into short exercises you can do at home. Here's what you can expect:
Weekly posts: Every Saturday morning, expect a new post exploring dream theories and general thoughts on the subject.
Monthly Q&A: I'll answer your questions about dreams and dreamwork.
Occasional personal insights: I'll share my own dream experiences and how they've impacted my life.
To follow along:
Subscribe to this Substack to receive email notifications of new posts.
Set aside 10 minutes each day for the exercises.
Send in your dreams! I’ll happily send back my thoughts.
Book a private dreamwork session via my website!
Sweet dreams!
Allegra
❤️🔥