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This article sets out the methodological choices structuring current research conducted by the authors and a team of psychoanalysts and sociologists into the dreams of young Chileans. Underpinned by a re-reading of Freud and of scientific literature on dreams, an original research design is outlined which is attentive to the narrative of dreams, day residues, the social situation of the dreamers and the associations prompted by dreams. The proposed method brings information to light that cannot be captured by regular sociological studies nor by psychological inquiry into night-time experiences. A case study illustrates the full research process, its advantages when trying to capture the contradictions stemming from being socially multipositioned (as teenagers are), and its value for critical social science.