Resources For Dream Work

These books concern dreams and working with images.

Inscapes of the Child’s World by John Allan.  An important book with so much meaning because of the way in which it focuses on images and children.  Dr. Allan presents many forms of drawing, guided imagery, and active imagination.  There is a wealth for psyche in this book.  Some of the cases present material that may be hard to confront.

A Little Course in Dreams by Robert Bosnak.  A sublime, readable introduction to symbolic attitude and the language of dreams.

Inner Work, by Robert Johnson. A highly regarded, useful, and readable introduction to working with one’s dreams and active imagination.

Children’s Dreams by C. G. Jung.  A wonderful book with children’s dreams but also its first sixty pages can really be a help in dream analysis theory such as the maxim of sticking to the image and not free associating.

Animal Guides in Life, Myth and Dreams by Neil Russack.  A walk among animal images and guides as presented in story, myth and life.

Dreams – God’s Forgotten Language by John A. Sanford.  A lovely work tracing the role of dreams and vision in Biblical sources.

Dreams and the Underworld by James Hillman.  A classic book, using the poetics of mythology to help the reader understand his extension of Jung’s theory.  A readable book; don’t let the word theory scare you off.

Transforming Depression — Healing the Soul Through Creativity by David Rosen.  Written by a psychiatrist and Jungian Analyst, this helpful book addresses the critical work of transforming depression and depression’s strong pull toward suicide through the creative process.  Organized with case studies and images.

How Dreams Help by Harry Wilmer.  This beloved analyst points to the common dreams that humans have or may have in the future “as our most creative inner source of wisdom and hope.”

Dreams — A Portal to the Sources by Edward Whitmont & Sylvia Perera.  A classic.  The jacket of the book states “Natural and necessary expressions of the life force, dreams provide access into the unconscious areas of life…. important for healing.”  These two famous Jungian analysts provide an extensive guide to dreams and their interpretation.

Understanding Your Dreams by Mary Ann Mattoon.  Also a classic.  Very clear step-by-step descriptions of working with dream interpretation.  An excellent resource for the Jungian terms you will meet, such as archetype, complex, alchemy, and other terms.