About Leslie Ellis, PhD
In the decades I have spent as a clinical counsellor and educator, I have had the privilege of sitting with many courageous explorers. It is endlessly inspiring to bear witness to my clients and students as you explore dreams and bravely find pathways to healing that are embodied, creative and deeply wise. You are my greatest teachers.
I spent 25+ years as a clinical counsellor based in British Columbia, and this experience deeply informs my current pursuits, mainly teaching and writing. My work sits at the intersection of depth psychology, neuroscience and lived experience, with a particular focus on dreams, nightmares, and embodied ways of knowing.
I have a talent for translating complex ideas into language that is accessible, humane, and clinically useful, while remaining deeply respectful of the mystery and symbolic richness of the inner world. I honed this skill as a science journalist, and have consistently nurtured my love of writing. The second edition of my book, A Clinician's Guide to Dream Therapy was published in 2025 and is a companion to my flagship online course on clinical dreamwork. It is one of many online offerings aimed at helping clinicians and inner explorers to engage with dreams, active imagination and to access our deepest embodied wisdom.
My Approach to Dreams and Therapy
My work is guided by the belief that the psyche is always trying to communicate -- through dreams, the body and our experiences in the world -- and that it often carries greater wisdom than our waking mind can generate on its own.
I view dreams, nightmares, reverie and other altered states as meaningful expressions. When we meet these messages with curiosity, patience, and respect, a rich, creative inner world opens that can guide us to through all aspects of lived experience, from our deepest sorrows to our most transcendent heights.
I view the practice of engaging with dreams and other expressions of the unconscious realm as sacred, essential and not as something to be rushed or mined for immediate reward. My experience has shown me that inner wisdom emerges over time and through relationship: with the body, with emotion, with image, and at a the pace in keeping with the rhythm of the psyche as it unfolds.
Because my work is based on Gendlin's Focusing approach, it is inherently non-directive, optimistic and organic. The dreamer or client is ultimately in charge of the direction, pace and avenues of exploration. Change happens not through insight alone, but through regulation, embodiment, and the gradual restoration of trust in the body, the imagination, and in one’s inner authority.
This philosophy informs everything I teach and write: from how clinicians can effectively work with nightmares and trauma, to public education that bridges neuroscience, depth psychology, and the symbolic intelligence of dreams.