Helping the Dream Self with David Jenkins

Our dream self is different in many ways from our waking self. They are often much more beleaguered and can behave differently than we imagine that our waking self would. We discuss why this is important, and how we can help them. In this replay show from December, our guest is David Jenkins, PhD, clinical psychologist and author of “Dream RePlay: How to Transform Your Dream Life.”

David shares an example of a dream of someone whose car is stuck in the mud and compares working with the image symbolically vs exploring the feelings of the dream self in their situation and giving them empathy and maybe even advice. We also talk about dream themes and how they change and how they parallel waking life themes which evolve as well.

After the break we take a call from Jane from Santa Cruz who shares her series of dreams around her deceased mother and how they evolved as she came to terms with the reality of her passing. We then take a question from Max about how lucidity affects our definition of this dream self as different from our waking self.

BIO: David Jenkins has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and a masters in developmental psychology. He studied family therapy. Originally from Manchester, U.K., he has lived in California since 1973.

Contact me if you’d like to get in touch with David.

This show, episode number 316, aired June 2, 2025, is the replay of a show recorded during a live broadcast on November 30, 2024 at KSQD.org, community radio of Santa Cruz.

Intro and outro music by Mood Science. Ambient music new every week by Rick Kleffel. Archived music can be found at Pandemiad.com. Many thanks to Rick for also engineering the show and to Tony Russomano for answering the phones.

The Santa Cruz Festival of Dreams is coming October 10-12, 2025! Mark your calendars now. Check our landing page at FestivalofDream.net and FB group page HERE or follow #KeepSantaCruzDreaming on FB and IG.

SHARE A DREAM FOR THE SHOW or a question or enquire about being a guest on the podcast by emailing Katherine Bell at katherine@ksqd.org. Follow on FB, IG, LI, & YT @ExperientialDreamwork #thedreamjournal. To learn more or to inquire about exploring your own dreams go to ExperientialDreamwork.com.

The Dream Journal aims to: Increase awareness of and appreciation for nightly dreams. Inspire dream sharing and other kinds of dream exploration as a way of adding depth and meaningfulness to lives and relationships. Improve society by the increased empathy, emotional balance, and sense of wonder which dream exploration invites.

A dream can be meaningful even if you don’t know what it means.

The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM. Catch it streaming LIVE at KSQD.org 10-11am Pacific Time on Saturdays. Call or text with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773 or email at onair@ksqd.org. Podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms the Monday following the live show. The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page can be found at ksqd.org/the-dream-journal/.

Closed captioning is available on the YouTube version of this podcast and an automatically generated transcript is available at Apple Podcasts.

Thanks for being a D