Researching Dreams

What can be gleaned from the study of our dreams? With research methods in mind—including the shortcomings and strengths of various strategies—the book presents a comprehensive introduction to the research obtained so far. Topics include the factors of dream recall; the continuity hypothesis of dreaming; the relationship between physiology and dream content; etiology and therapy of nightmares; and lucid dreaming. The book not only presents a comprehensive introduction to the research obtained so far but also provide the tools to carry our scientific dream studies—including the shortcomings and strengths of various approaches.

This edited volume shows the relationship between dream research and its usefulness in treating patients. Milton Kramer and Myron Glucksman show that there is support for searching for the meaning of dream as experiences extended in time. Dreaming reflects psychological changes and is actually an orderly process, not a random experience. Several chapters in this book explore interviewing methodologies that will help clients reduce the frequency of their nightmares and thus contribute to successful therapy.

This book presents an overview of the methods and results of laboratory dream research: the collection of dreams under various conditions; different methods of dream evaluation; physiological and psychological factors of dream recall; memory sources of dreams; and dreams in different sleep stages. The main focus is to describe the phenomenology of dreams. What are the common features of dreaming with regard to images, thoughts, and emotions? Where does the dream take place and who enters the dream "theatre"? In what kinds of scenarios do dreamers find themselves? The authors' evidence is based on dreams collected in their sleep laboratory. Results of analysis of 500 REM dreams are discussed with reference to sex differences, children's dreams, and waking fantasies.

The Boyash, also known as Rudari, Lingurari or, inclusively, as “oamenii noștri” (our people), are an ethnic group living today in scattered communities in the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe, but also in the Americas. What brings the disperse communities of Boyash together is their Romanian mother tongue, (memory of) traditional occupation, common historical origin, and the fact that the majority population considers them Gypsies / Roma. A marginal topic until now, at the crossroads between Romani and Romanian studies, the Boyash studies are today an interdisciplinary field dealing with the experiences of the Boyash over time, in Romania and all the places where they have settled. The editors of this volume intend to mark two centuries of scholarly interest in the Boyash by bringing together researchers from different fields, summing up existing literature and bringing new research to the forefront.

This book looks at dreams from a twenty-first century perspective. It takes its inspiration from Freud's insights, but pursues psychoanalytic interest into both neuroscience and the modern psychoanalytic consulting room. The book looks at laboratory research on dreaming alongside the modern clinical use of dreams and links together clinical and empirical research, integrating classical ideas with the plurality of psychoanalytic theoretical constructs available to modern researchers. Psychoanalysts writing about dreams have traditionally represented the cutting edge of clinical and theoretical development, and this book is no exception. Many of the contributions, as well as the epistemological position taken by the writers, represent a kind of radical openness to new ways of thinking about the clinical situation and about theory. In line with the ambition of the editors, this volume represents an integration of theories and disciplines, and a scientific context for modern psychoanalysis. The link between clinical research and extraclinical research via the royal road of dreaming is a theme that runs through all the contributions.

This book explains the use of dreams as a tool in psychotherapy to provide meaning, establish and maintain a therapeutic relationship, and thus enhance and progress treatment. Maintaining a focus on the synergy between dreams and relationship, it includes interviews with four eminent dream researchers and scholars: John S. Antrobus, G. William Domhoff, Mark J. Blechner, and J. Allan Hobson. This book explores the synergistic qualities between dreams and relationships, and how that synergy generates biographically, professionally, and psychotherapeutically formative experiences. The book delineates the ways in which dreams provide a foundation for relating, provides a container (Bion, 1967/1993) for the unthought known (Bollas, 1987), creates meaning through relationships, and ultimately fosters dispersion of relational dynamics originating from the culture of the times and more. From a relational psychoanalytic perspective, this book describes the role of dreams in shaping our relational living. This book provides a unique perspective that illustrates using yourself as a tool in relational establishment, preservation, and knowing. It is ideal for students working toward an understanding of the influence of intersubjective space in clinical interactions and clinicians looking for additional and alternate ways to connect with patients.

The father of the modern dreamwork movement describes his research on the use of dreams in self-help, creativity, relationships, spirituality and culture, including incubation, remembering, interpretation and application of dream insights.

Revealing how dreams influence such things as memory, health, and relationships, a guide to making positive changes by identifying dream messages also explains how to reconnect with departed loved ones through dreams.