In this episode of The Dream Journal, host Katherine Bell speaks with psychotherapists and artists Willow Pearson Trimbach and Eva Tuschman Leonard about their book The Emotional Truth of Dreams: Learning from Dream Dialogues in Psychotherapeutic and Spiritual Practice. Together they explore how dreams reveal emotional truth, invite deep listening, and open pathways into creativity, spirituality, and relationship. Willow and Eva describe the difference between emotional reactivity and emotional truth, the grace of dreaming, and the practice of allowing dreams to remain mysterious while continuing to unfold meaning over time. They also discuss waking dreams, nested dreams, nonduality through multiplicity, interbeing, dream dialogue, and the creative exchange between dream life and artistic practice. The conversation also includes a listener question about dreamlike experiences during meditation and shared consciousness, leading into reflections on waking life as a dynamic dream field. This episode is for anyone interested in dreamwork, depth psychology, psychotherapy, spirituality, creativity, lucid living, and the mystery of how dreams speak to the soul. Topics Covered: • Dreams as the source of emotional truth • Dream dialogue in psychotherapy and spiritual practice • The difference between reactivity and deeper responsiveness • Grace, reverence, and the mystery of dreaming • Nonduality, multiplicity, and “nothing is other” • Waking dreams, nested dreams, and altered states of awareness • Creativity, music, ceramics, visual art, and dream inspiration • Finding a dream companion or soul friend Keywords: dreamwork, dream interpretation, emotional truth of dreams, Willow Pearson Trimbach, Eva Tuschman Leonard, The Emotional Truth of Dreams, psychotherapy and dreams, spiritual practice, depth psychology, dream dialogue, waking dreams, nested dreams, nonduality, creativity and dreams, The Dream Journal, Katherine Bell, Experiential Dreamwork BIOS: Willow Pearson Trimbach, PsyD, LMFT, MT-BC is Professor and Director of Clinical Training in the Clinical Psychology Department at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is a psychologist, psychotherapist, music therapist, author, singer, and songwriter. Willow’s first book, co-edited with Helen Marlo, is The Spiritual Psyche: Mysticism, Intersubjectivity and Psychoanalysis, Her most recent album, Caesura’s Cry was released in July, 2025. Eva Tuschman Leonard is a psychotherapist, writer, and artist based in Sonoma, California, with degrees from Stanford and The Wright Institute. Influenced by over two decades of meditation practice, her integrative therapeutic style balances resilience-building tools with the exploration of existential, spiritual, and creative dimensions of life. Her first book, Bodywork, explores illness, grief and desire through her drawings and written reflections. Guest Links: • Book website: emotionaltruthofdreams.com • Eva Tuschman Leonard: Evatuschman.com • Willow Pearson Trimbach: Drwillowpearson.com • Music and creative work: Lionessroars.org This show, episode number 378, was recorded during a live broadcast on August 29, 2026 at KSQD.org, community radio of Santa Cruz. 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 LI, IG, YT, FB, & LT @ExperientialDreamwork #thedreamjournal. To learn more or to inquire about exploring your own dreams go to ExperientialDreamwork.com. Video podcast available at youtube.com/@experientialdreamwork. Popular playlists: “Dream Journal shorts” and “FULL LENGTH VIDEOS”. Here are links to some other Dream Journal episodes you might be interested in: Jungian Psychology, Creativity, and the Music of the Unconscious with Dr Michael Mollura Putting the Psyche back in Psychology with Jungian Eva Rider 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 Erik Nelson for answering the phones. 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/. Thanks for being a Dream Journal listener! Available on all major podcast platforms. Rate it, review it, subscribe, and tell your friends.
