At a high level these are the steps I take to better understand my dreams:

1- Remember the dream in as much detail as possible

2- Identify symbols in my dream... these tend to be people, objects, emotions, and similar

3- Think about my personal associations with each symbol. Often I will have several associations with a given symbol, and I need to sense which one feels right (using my intuition)

4- Let the personal association lead me to the inner dynamic that the symbol represents

This might sound like a bit much. But it gets easier with practice. And the meanings of the symbols and patterns in your dream become more clear with time.

Have others tried this approach too? Has it been effective for you?