Sexual dreams are nearly universal.

Depth psychology treats sexual dream content as meaningful and not as random noise to be explained away.

Approached with curiosity instead of shame, sexual dreams can become a doorway to self-knowledge.

We spend approximately a third of our lives asleep, presuming we don't have a sleep-related health condition.1 Whether we remember it or not, we dream every night; even people who insist they never dream show the physiological signatures of dreaming when sleep researchers observe them sleep.2

Among the dreams we can remember and recall, few themes are as universal, or as avoided in conversation, as the sexual ones. One recent study found that 95 percent of research participants reported having sexual and erotic dreams.3 Interestingly, people with more frequent sexual encounters, higher relationship satisfaction, and greater sexual desire tended to dream of their current partner, while those in shorter or less satisfying relationships were more likely to dream of an ex. So, apparently your unconscious has a type.

Sexual dreams, in other words, aren't just random noise. These dreams can be a window into how we're doing relationally, sexually, and psychologically.

Why Therapists Care About Sex Dreams

More people are talking to their therapists about sex than popular culture gives us credit for, including psychodynamic, Jungian, and depth-oriented clinicians who take dream material seriously. It's easy to dismiss this as........

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