The new movie “Inception” portrays the dream world as a veritable marketplace. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his team can “extract” dreams from people’s psyches. But Dom – with a team that includes architect Ariadne (Ellen Page) and an unwelcome figment of his past (Marion Cotillard) – can also plant dreams in people’s subconscious minds through a process called inception.

In the real world, during sleep, the subconscious is also very busy. But the gains aren’t in the business or corporate realm, as they are in “Inception.” The benefits are deeply personal.   

A dream is the psyche’s ongoing commentary on how our lives are going, says James Hollis, a Jungian analyst in private practice, and the author of What Matters Most: Living a More Considered Life (Gotham Books, 2009). If we consider that our consciousness is limited while we live our day-to-day lives, then any natural wisdom that our subconscious mind – the reality we’re not immediately aware of – can provide is a big plus, he says.

What Dreams Are Trying to Tell You

Carl Gustav Jung said people could use dreams as their communication tool with their subconscious. But you may not realize just how specific this sleepy-time activity really is. “Whatever the dream is about is an indicator of where we should focus our attention,” says Hollis. “The dream is always the psyche’s point of view, which is important to our consciousness. The dream is definitely a wake-up call.”

How does it all work?

Jung liked to say that people tend to overcompensate in the parts of their lives that they’ve neglected or where they’ve become one-sided. “The psyche registers anything that becomes one-sided, which eventually shows up in our dreams.”

Hollis gives a fictional example involving a woman who does not believe she is physically beautiful, a belief which diminishes her self-worth. Because she hasn’t valued herself, her take on the matter has become one-sided. This type of woman could have a dream about a woman wearing an absurd amount of make-up, which makes her look unattractive.

Upon waking from her dream, says Hollis, the woman could explore how the heavily made-up lady might represent the dreamer’s focus on physical beauty. “The psyche’s goal is to help rebalance our imbalanced ways of looking at things, and to help us find our center,” he says. “The dream’s imagery can be very supportive.”

Another fictional example, he says, is a woman who overeats. She knows that it’s important to cut calories, but may lack the discipline to make it happen. This woman might dream of someone staring into an empty refrigerator who then decides to skip a meal. Hollis suggests that dreams may provide encouragement coming from the deepest part of ourselves to bolster our confidence. A similar dream may occur when you’ve started eating more healthily. “When we do the right thing, a dream will reinforce it,” he says.

Dreams and Healing

In “Inception,” the dream arena is populated by people who are trying to control the dream’s outcome. That’s pretty much the way it is in the real world too, says Hollis. Many people believe they can control their dream’s outcome by entering the dream (while they’re still dreaming), and changing its ending, he says. Hollis notes this attempt is a clear indication that the ego wants to manipulate the dream and be in charge.

“The healthiest thing to do is simply listen to the dream’s intelligence – it’s much wiser than you are and it’s trying to communicate with you,” he says.

Although it’s possible to get to the core of a dream on our own, sometimes circumstances may require the help of a mental health professional. In seeking out these services, Hollis advises asking the person you’d like to work with whether they’ve had dream training and if they’re comfortable doing dream analysis.

Coeli Carr is a health and fitness writer in New York City.