Therapy, Coaching & Dreams

Dee Kelley
  • 5.0 (8)
  • Self-Improvement

Therapy, Coaching & Dreams is cohosted by Dr. Jim Shalley and Dr. Selden Dee Kelley III, a therapist and a coach who love talking about how inner work can help you live with more awareness, purpose and freedom.

  1. 6d ago

    S2E18 Fragile, Inflated, Crushed or Healthy: How The Ego Shapes Daily Life

    Send us Fan Mail As a coach and a therapist and get specific about what we mean when we say “ego.” From there, we break the ego into real-world patterns you’ve probably seen at work and at home: the fragile ego that can’t tolerate threat, the inflated ego that resists other possibilities, and the crushed ego that shuts down under defeat. We talk candidly about how a truly crushed ego can drift toward suicidal ideation, and why steady support matters more than any quick fix. Then we pivot toward what a healthy ego looks like, especially when criticism hits. The goal isn’t denial or self-attack, but a calmer process: depersonalize, check for evidence, learn what’s true, and let the rest go. We also share practical “flags” that it’s time to talk to a therapist or coach, including repeating patterns, feedback you keep dismissing, and relationship dynamics that keep showing up with different faces. We cover when medication and talk therapy can work together for anxiety, depression, and mood dysregulation, plus foundational self-care like sleep hygiene and emotional mindfulness. If you want a more grounded way to handle setbacks, we end with a reframe that changes everything: what if failure is just an experiment pointing you toward the best next step? Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find the show. You can connect with the cohosts through their respective websites: AFCCounselors.com (Dr. Shalley) / https://www.inyourdreams.coach/contact (Dr. Kelley)

  2. Jul 2

    S2E17 A Sexual Dream Can Be A Map To Your Inner Life

    Send us Fan Mail A sexual dream can feel like your mind just exposed you, especially when the dream partner makes no sense or the emotion is stronger than you expected. We slow that moment down and reframe it through dream work: sexuality in dreams often points to psychological integration, where you are trying to connect with parts of yourself you have ignored, feared, or kept too controlled. When we treat sex dreams as symbols instead of literal instruction, shame loosens and insight shows up. We walk through questions we use in therapy and coaching to help you interpret sex dreams with clarity: What does sex represent to you? What do you want it to mean? What stands out as the strongest moment in the dream? We also look at the dream partner as a mirror, exploring how their traits may reflect undeveloped or emerging aspects of your personality. Along the way, we name an important caution: some sexual content in dreams can be tied to trauma triggers, and it deserves careful attention rather than quick symbolism. Then we widen the lens to couples counseling and intimacy. We talk about the familiar standoff of emotional connection versus physical connection, how masculine energy and feminine energy can collide, and why externalizing the solution often keeps couples stuck. Using the STIR model of personality (Stabilizer, Transformer, Initiator, Responder), we highlight blind spots that shape desire, safety, spontaneity, and the courage to say yes or no. The goal is a healthier “dance” where both people negotiate honestly and build a norm that fits their relationship. If this conversation helps you, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find thoughtful, practical tools for dream interpretation, sexuality, and relationship growth. You can connect with the cohosts through their respective websites: AFCCounselors.com (Dr. Shalley) / https://www.inyourdreams.coach/contact (Dr. Kelley)

  3. Jun 24

    S2E16 Chronic Communication Conflict

    Send us Fan Mail We talk through why couples get trapped in the same arguments and how the real issue is often the unresolved dynamic underneath the topic. We share practical ways to separate validation from agreement, navigate competing anxieties, and make small behavior shifts that change both relationships and mood. • recurring couple conflict around finances, parenting, division of labor, intimacy  • communication that keeps happening without real hearing  • control and identity threats driving defensiveness  • choosing connection over winning the argument  • validation versus agreement and how couples confuse them  • acceptance phase and living with unresolved tension  • triggers tied to childhood patterns and self-awareness  • inward processors versus outward processors and how opposites pair up  • competing anxieties and scripts for asking what helps  • melancholy and the need for movement, discipline, and habit change  • challenging “I’m not enough” with evidence and replacement thoughts  If you're enjoying the podcast, we'd love for you to follow, rate, or share it with someone who might appreciate it as well. You can connect with the cohosts through their respective websites: AFCCounselors.com (Dr. Shalley) / https://www.inyourdreams.coach/contact (Dr. Kelley)

  4. Jun 17

    S2E15 The Language of Symbols and What Our Behavior Might Really Mean

    Send us Fan Mail We explore why symbols matter in dreams, therapy, and everyday life, and why the same image can carry wildly different meanings depending on your story and culture. We walk through practical ways to ask better questions so symbols become tools for insight instead of shortcuts to certainty.  • symbols as more than literal objects  • collective meanings vs personal meanings  • logos, brands, and why images stick  • dream figures as representations of parts of us  • hiking and driving as symbols of freedom • doors, windows, downsizing, and what we can’t throw away  • why dream dictionaries flatten subjective meaning  • symbols evolving over time, and the STIR model as a living map  If you're enjoying the podcast, we'd love for you to follow, rate, or share it with someone who might appreciate it as well.  You can connect with the cohosts through their respective websites: AFCCounselors.com (Dr. Shalley) / https://www.inyourdreams.coach/contact (Dr. Kelley)

  5. Jun 3

    S2E14 What If Your Dreams Know Your Personality Better Than You Do

    Send us Fan Mail A terrifying dream. A stranger at the door. A jolt of fear so sharp it lingers into daylight and forces a question most of us avoid: what if my dreams are trying to tell me something real? We share a special reading from Dee Kelley’s book, Dreamwork, It’s Not That Complicated, starting with an invitation into dreamwork that begins with one unsettling night and the decision not to shut the whole system down just because it’s scary. From there, we lay out a practical approach to dreamwork for self-discovery. We talk about why dreams aren’t “random nonsense,” and why the goal isn’t to decode a universal symbol list. Instead, we treat dreams as a living dialogue with your inner world, rich with emotion, memory, patterns, and possibility. You’ll hear the three essentials that make dreamwork actually work: committing to self-awareness, staying open to dreams as a tool, and having that one dream that proves the practice matters. We also nod to the research behind why dreaming can support emotional regulation, memory consolidation, and creativity. In the second reading, we go deeper by applying a theory of personality to dreams. Using a detailed dream example, we explore how dream settings and characters can reflect personality structure, imbalance, and inner conflict. We compare helpful lenses like Jungian psychology (ego and shadow, masculine and feminine energies) and Internal Family Systems therapy (Self, managers, exiles, firefighters), showing how these frameworks can bring order to dream images that feel chaotic and help you move toward integration. If you want a free Audible copy (limited, first come first serve), visit inyourdreams.coach and click Audible Format. Subscribe, share this with a friend who texts you their dreams, and leave a review so more people can learn to listen to what their dreams are saying. You can connect with the cohosts through their respective websites: AFCCounselors.com (Dr. Shalley) / https://www.inyourdreams.coach/contact (Dr. Kelley)

  6. May 29

    S2E13 When Dreams Show the Way

    Send us Fan Mail We share two real dreams and use them to explore how personality, grief, and spiritual growth show up in the images our minds create at night. We leave with a grounded way to experiment with new rhythms while still honoring responsibility and relationships.  • a short dream about a deceased mother as a symbol of caretaking, tradition, and faith-based wisdom  • noticing “weakness” as a cue for shifting spiritual focus and loosening prescribed structures  • building a self-authored rhythm instead of living by external expectations  • using “life is an experiment” to stay flexible, learn faster, and reduce fear of getting it wrong  • responder sensitivity to consequences when growth disrupts familiar systems  • a high-energy dream of fast cars and remodeling as a metaphor for adventure, self-trust, and inner renovation  • balancing risk and preparation, like stunt work that looks spontaneous but is carefully planned  If you're enjoying the podcast, we'd love for you to follow, rate, or share it with someone who might appreciate it as well.  You can connect with the cohosts through their respective websites: AFCCounselors.com (Dr. Shalley) / https://www.inyourdreams.coach/contact (Dr. Kelley)

  7. May 21

    S2E12 The Shadow Side Is Not Your Evil Twin

    Send us Fan Mail We unpack what the shadow side really means and why it often shows up through big emotions, relationship conflict, and projection. We also explore how dreams can deliver shadow material at a pace we can handle, so curiosity replaces fear and growth becomes possible.  • defining the shadow side as denied or unrecognized parts of self  • why “denial” is not always conscious and how triggers reveal the unconscious  • Jung’s view of the shadow as “gold” and a major source of growth  • spotting the shadow through disproportionate anger, fear, sadness, and depression  • how projection in couples and everyday life points to what we disown  • using triggers to trace the story in your head and test it for evidence  • why old wounds return across decades and what they may teach next  • working with scary dreams as symbolic messages and using active imagination  • building a safe habit of self-curiosity in therapy, coaching, and daily life  If you're enjoying the podcast we'd love for you to follow rate or share it with someone who might appreciate it as well. You can connect with the cohosts through their respective websites: AFCCounselors.com (Dr. Shalley) / https://www.inyourdreams.coach/contact (Dr. Kelley)

  8. May 13

    S2E11 Your Night Shift Therapist Is On Duty

    Send us Fan Mail Dreams aren’t just strange stories your brain invents at night. They can be a practical pathway to self-awareness, emotional regulation, and real change, especially when you learn how to work with them. Dee Kelley and Jim Shalley, a coach and a therapist, share a grounded approach to dream work built on clear principles you can actually use.  We start by laying out ten principles that guide healthy approach to dreams, then go deeper on two that matter a lot for day-to-day mental health: paying attention to the emotional weight of the last couple of days and doing dream work with someone safe. We talk about why dreams can act like a “nighttime therapist” by nudging you toward emotional mindfulness, and why sleep hygiene is still the most basic, most powerful mental health practice you can protect.  From there, we widen the lens to therapy and coaching. We unpack what an objective guide adds, how reframing and flexible thinking help you break distorted patterns, and why simply saying a scary thought out loud can bring huge relief. We also tackle the reality of plateaus, including what to ask when progress stalls, when supportive therapy is valuable, and how to keep growing if you can’t afford therapy right now.  You can connect with the cohosts through their respective websites: AFCCounselors.com (Dr. Shalley) / https://www.inyourdreams.coach/contact (Dr. Kelley)

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5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Therapy, Coaching & Dreams is cohosted by Dr. Jim Shalley and Dr. Selden Dee Kelley III, a therapist and a coach who love talking about how inner work can help you live with more awareness, purpose and freedom.

Information

  • Creator
    Dee Kelley
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    40
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Therapy, Coaching & Dreams
  • Show Website
    Therapy, Coaching & Dreams

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