Shadow work and dreams
Shadow work therapy, with someone beside you
Shadow work means meeting the parts of yourself you have learnt to hide. I offer it online, one to one, within therapy, in sessions of 50 to 60 minutes, in English or Italian.
What is the shadow?
Carl Jung called “the shadow” the parts of ourselves we do not want to see: feelings, desires and qualities we pushed away because they did not fit who we were supposed to be. Anger, envy, need, but also talents and tenderness we never allowed ourselves.
What we push away does not disappear. It returns in our reactions, in the people who irritate us, in our dreams, in the relationships we keep repeating.
Why do it in therapy?
Shadow work is popular, and many people try it alone with books and journals. Meeting the shadow can stir up strong feelings, shame among them. Doing it in therapy means you are not alone when that happens, and that what comes up can be held, understood and given a place in your life.
I am training at CIPA, a Jungian school in Italy. This way of looking at the psyche is part of how I work, together with my integrative and relational approach.
Ways in
Dialogue
We notice together what you react to most strongly, and what keeps repeating in your life.
Dreams
Dreams speak in images. We listen to them as messages from parts of you that have no other voice yet.
Images and movement
I am also training in art therapy and dance therapy. Sometimes an image or a gesture says what words cannot.
The power to create
I believe the power to create is what makes us human again, even when everything seems lost. Meeting the shadow is not only about facing what hurts. It is also about recovering energy and gifts that were waiting in the dark.
Signs that the shadow is at work
The shadow rarely announces itself. It shows up in reactions that feel bigger than the situation, in people who irritate us for reasons we cannot explain, in the same kind of relationship ending the same way. It also shows up in dreams that return, and in the qualities we admire in others but cannot claim for ourselves.
In shadow work therapy with me, these signs become a starting point. We do not judge them. We get curious about them, and we ask what they might be trying to bring back into your life.
Questions about shadow work therapy
Do I need to know about Jung to do shadow work?
No. You do not need to have read anything. We start from your own experience: your reactions, your relationships and your dreams.
Do you interpret dreams?
I do not hand out fixed meanings. We listen to a dream together, notice what it stirs in you, and let its images speak. The meaning that matters is the one that makes sense to you.
What does a shadow work session look like?
It looks like a conversation. You might bring a dream, a strong reaction from the week, or a pattern you keep noticing. We stay with it, explore what it stirs, and see what it is asking of you.
Will shadow work change how I relate to others?
Often, yes. When we recognise what we project onto others, our relationships tend to become less reactive and more honest.
Is shadow work a separate kind of therapy?
No. With me, shadow work is part of one to one therapy, online, not a separate programme.
Can shadow work help with anger or envy?
Yes. Feelings we judge harshly, such as anger or envy, often belong to the shadow. Looking at them without shame can free the energy they hold.
Curious about what you keep in the shadow?
Request your free first session. We can see together whether this work is right for you now.