Agency during dreams
One might consider the amount of agency one has in their dreams to be ironic, especially during lucid dreams when a subject retains a fair deal of their normal agency or perhaps even more. Their dreams can be a puzzle or a journey in that case, allowing them to peruse ideas, in the best cases, or perhaps in the worst cases, they find themselves in nightmares. Another implicit irony here is that of course the patient doesn't have complete agency, and most times, although the feelings of agency are present, a person might not actually feel "in control" of their self or any aspect of their dream.
Interpretation and specificity
When it comes to the doctor who might help the patient by interpreting dreams, there is an irony present that the doctor must not become misled by. Namely, it is that a dream might seem to have been solved by the proffering of a good interpretation, but every symbol carries specific meaning to the dreamer, so that the doctor needs to deny their own interpretation until they have allowed the patient to elaborate the symbology and explore what past events are evoked by it.
The utility of academia
Ironically, academic knowledge about stories and myths (the humanities, more broadly) can be used to hone one's interpretation of dreams, says Freud, because a vast knowledge of myths can help a dynamic or a symbol to have its full expression. The most famous example of this is probably the Oedipal complex, which takes a Greek myth about a man bedding his mother (accidentally) and uses that as a full symbolic expression of the attachment to one's mother.
Symbology in dreams
Freud says that although dreams seem totally bizarre and unhinged, they are actually often our psyche communicating between its various parts, so that the ego or waking self can have access to more of the psyche's opinion (out of the limitations of the person's context). The way this happens is often through symbols that receive heightened centrality in the dream, leaving the dreamer to contemplate the messages (if they choose). If nothing else, the dreams clearly use symbolic attachments to certain objects or moments to evoke deep emotions for purposes not completely understood.
Problem solution
There is an irony in the way dreams help our waking selves to work through their daily issues. At least one can say they sometimes seem intentionally aimed to help a person somehow, because they often try to explain something through variation, or they evoke deep emotion inviting a narrative to help explore possible solutions. Contrarily, a dream can also warn the dreamer by suggesting narratives that the dreamer doesn't really want to consider (nightmares). This is not a failsafe interpretation of dreams, but Freud mentions that it is a necessary consideration.
