Jung saw dream analysis as being far more beneficial than free association. Dreams are considered a way of pointing therapy in specific directions in such cases. Dreams can both assist and retard therapy. Thus the therapist needs to be aware of this possibility and perhaps explore the reasons why a client may use dreams to block the therapeutic experience. Techniques that embrace active imagination aid clients who are trapped in cognitive ruts.
Active imagination is an active purposeful creation on the part of the client.
In active imagination, images have a life of their own. Symbolic events will develop within their own logic - assuming that the conscious does not interfere. When one concentrates on the mental image, the image begins to stir and become enriched with details. The image is dynamic - it moves and develops. This is accomplished through the objectification of impersonal images and understanding their inherent ideas.