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. 8h ago

    DW2 - What If Every Character In Your Dream Is You?

    Send us Fan Mail A childhood nightmare returns in college and sets us on a candid tour through the strange intelligence of repeat dreams. We start with a God’s-eye view of a home, a stranger at the door, frantic hiding, and the jolt that wakes a child into lifelong curiosity. That scene traces back to a real moment of danger and a mother’s protective fear, revealing how powerful emotions lodge in memory and resurface as “template dreams” whenever life rhymes with the past. From there, we unpack the dream patterns so many of us know too well: the pop-quiz you didn’t study for, the not-quite-dressed embarrassment, the impossible search for a private restroom. Each one is more than a symbol; it’s a live feed from the nervous system, a way the psyche metabolizes stress, vulnerability, or bodily cues. Instead of shutting dreams down, we learn to listen: What emotion is moving? Which part of me is speaking? What small action would honor the message while awake? We also reframe dream characters—family, celebrities, strangers—as facets of the self. Your associations do the heavy lifting, not a rigid symbol list. Snakes might terrify, tempt, or heal depending on your story. A stern professor or public figure could represent your inner organizer or advocate. Even unsettling figures like a cult leader can point to initiator energy asking for recognition. To make this workable, we map dreams onto a simple two-axis model—feminine to masculine, static to dynamic—yielding four useful styles: responder, transformer, initiator, stabilizer.  You can connect with the cohosts through their respective websites: AFCCounselors.com (Dr. Shalley) / https://www.inyourdreams.coach/contact (Dr. Kelley)

  2. 1d ago

    DW1 - Five Functions Of Dreams For Emotional Health

    Send us Fan Mail First hour of a six-hour course on Dream Work What if your strangest dreams are quietly doing precision work on your behalf? We dive into a lifetime of dream practice and map out five powerful functions that make nighttime images more than random noise: rehashing charged memories, rehearsing future challenges, resolving problems with fresh angles, recalibrating emotional bandwidth, and revealing the inner cast of characters shaping your days. These five functions make dreams a nightly system for emotional health, creativity, and self‑knowledge. Along the way we offer simple tools to protect sleep, remember more dreams, and turn odd images into helpful insight. • five functions of dreams: rehash, rehearse, resolve, recalibrate, reveal • why everyone dreams and why recall varies • how REM unlocks problem solving • reading people and symbols of dreams as parts of self • sleep opportunity and sleep hygiene that support REM • three methods to fall asleep and return to sleep • a three‑step ritual to remember dreams • triggers, bandwidth, and emotional recalibration We ground the conversation in story and science. You’ll hear a vivid case dream—backstage, a Cher pantomime, a rock band you don’t belong in—and watch how it transforms from “nonsense” into a clear read on imposter feelings and authenticity. Then we explore why breakthroughs often arrive when constraints drop. We explain why REM sleep clusters late in the night and what that means for your health if you cut sleep short on either end. Most importantly, you’ll leave with practical tools. Protect your “sleep opportunity” without clock panic, clean up evening habits that sabotage REM, and try three gentle methods for falling back asleep, including eye‑movement patterns, progressive relaxation, and a simple cognitive exercise to break rumination. Want to remember more dreams? Use a three‑step ritual before bed, choose your capture method, and commit to recording on waking. We also share how to read people, places, and plotlines as parts of self so you can turn recurring images into everyday guidance for relationships, leadership, creativity, and spiritual life. You can connect with the cohosts through their respective websites: AFCCounselors.com (Dr. Shalley) / https://www.inyourdreams.coach/contact (Dr. Kelley)

  3. 6d ago

    S2E21 Religious Crisis:The Movement from Certainty to Nuance

    Send us Fan Mail We talk about what a faith crisis really looks like and why it often shows up as we grow into nuance rather than certainty. We share practical ways to explore belief, handle family pressure, and deconstruct without losing the parts that still give life.  • defining the presenting issue behind spiritual struggle  • exploring faith for the first time through trusted friendships  • visiting a place of worship with curiosity  • applying the STIR personality model to openness and resistance  • navigating family-of-origin baggage and hard conversations with parents  • understanding midlife shifts and taking responsibility for your faith journey  • deconstruction as redefining rather than discarding  • rejecting black-and-white categories in faith and culture  • rebuilding community through nuance 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. Jul 22

    S2E20 The Sandwich Generation Squeeze

    Send us Fan Mail We talk about what it feels like to live in the middle of three generations, with kids launching into adulthood while parents begin to need care and oversight. We focus on staying emotionally healthy through grief, sibling stress, and identity shifts so we can show up with steadiness instead of exhaustion.  • the sandwich generation reality of simultaneous transitions  • using the oxygen mask rule to prevent resentment  • navigating siblings, fairness, and different family histories  • recognising grief inside “normal” life changes and delayed grief  • needing safe places to tell the grief story repeatedly  • separating identity from trauma and from vocation  • preparing for retirement and role changes by building a life on purpose  • noticing family of origin triggers without getting pulled into dysfunction  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. Jul 16

    S2E19 The Ripple Effects Of Change

    Send us Fan Mail The healthiest changes in your life can still blow up the system around you. When you stop a habit, set a boundary, or simply decide you’re done carrying a role, it doesn’t just affect you. It reshapes family systems, friendships, and the unwritten agreements inside long-term relationships. We dig into why that disruption is so common, and why it can feel both encouraging and strangely painful at the same time.  We start with an everyday example that’s bigger than it sounds: choosing to stop social drinking. Even when nobody is “making” you change, the group dynamic shifts instantly, and people may test whether you’re serious. From there, we get honest about how often we try to externalize discipline by announcing intentions and asking others to keep us accountable, and why true heart change usually shows up quietly in consistent action.  Then we move into boundaries in marriage and committed relationships, especially for responders, accommodators, and enablers who finally hit a wall. We talk about role renegotiation (including the classic “what’s for dinner?” conflict), the difference between changing from exhaustion versus changing from health, and how direct communication can prevent years of resentment.  If you’re working on personal growth, therapy, coaching, addiction recovery, or simply better communication, you’ll leave with a clearer map of what to expect and how to stay steady when others push back. Subscribe, share this with someone navigating change, and leave a review with the boundary or role you’re trying to shift right now. You can connect with the cohosts through their respective websites: AFCCounselors.com (Dr. Shalley) / https://www.inyourdreams.coach/contact (Dr. Kelley)

  6. Jul 8

    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)

  7. 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)

  8. 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)

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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
    45
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Therapy, Coaching & Dreams
  • Show Website
    Therapy, Coaching & Dreams

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