Trauma And Dreams

Finally, this volume concludes with a look at the potential "traumas of normal life," such as divorce, bereavement, and life-threatening illness, and the role of dreams in working through normal grief and loss

According to the poet Elias Canetti, "All the things one has forgotten / scream for help in dreams." To the ancient Egyptians they were prophecies, and in world folklore they have often marked visitations from the dead. For Freud they were expressions of "wish fulfillment," and for Jung, symbolic representations of mythical archetypes. Although there is still much disagreement about the significance and function of dreams, they seem to serve as a barometer of current mind and body states. In this volume, Deirdre Barrett brings together the study of dreams and the psychology of trauma. She has called on a distinguished group of psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers--among them Rosalind Cartwright, Robert J. Lifton, and Oliver Sacks--to consider how trauma shapes dreaming and what the dreaming mind might reveal about trauma. The book focuses on catastrophic events, such as combat, political torture, natural disasters, and rape. The lasting effects of childhood trauma, such as sexual abuse or severe burns, on personality formation, the nature of memories of early trauma, and the development of defenses related to amnesia and dissociation are all considered. The book also takes up trauma and adult dreams, including Vietnam veterans and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Holocaust survivors and perpetrators, rape victims, and firestorm survivors. Finally, this volume concludes with a look at the potential "traumas of normal life," such as divorce, bereavement, and life-threatening illness, and the role of dreams in working through normal grief and loss. Taken together, these diverse perspectives illuminate the universal and the particular effects of traumatic experience. For physicians and clinicians, determining the etiology of nightmares offers valuable diagnostic and therapeutic insights for individual treatment. This book provides a way of juxtaposing the research in the separate fields of trauma and dreams, and learning from their discoveries.

Finally, this volume concludes with a look at the potential "traumas of normal life," such as divorce, bereavement, and life-threatening illness, and the role of dreams in working through normal grief and loss

In this series of clinical vignettes, a board-certified psychiatrist and life fellow of the American Psychiatric Association illustrates the effectiveness of dream therapy in treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be disabling and difficult to treat, often leading to depression, suicide, and homicide in extreme cases. In this clinical-based reference, acclaimed psychiatrist and neuroscience researcher, Bruce Dow, provides a step-by-step approach for implementing dream revision therapy—a treatment proven to eliminate nightmares, flashbacks, anxiety, and other debilitating effects of PTSD. Drawing from work with patients in both military and civilian settings, Dow shows how to utilize imagery rehearsal exercises to help mitigate the effects of the illness. The vast majority of the book's 11 chapters focus on clinical case studies of patients who have suffered under the effects of the disease—for example, a hotel employee who witnesses a gory suicide; a female police officer whose career-ending crash in her patrol car brings back traumatic memories from childhood; and Vietnam combat veterans with recurrent posttraumatic nightmares. Each vignette offers details of the dream revision method along with clinical tips for ensuring its success. The final chapter features descriptions of brain mechanisms of PTSD and dream revision.

"A master of dreamwork shows how to awaken the power of the living dream to transform your relationships, career, health, and spirit"--Cover.

Can a newborn infant accurately record traumatic experience? Can early truamas be retained in memory? How would such traumatic memories affect later development? Where should we look for evidence of such traumas in adult patients? If Someone Speaks, It Gets Lighter provides surprising answers to these questions. Taking as her point of departure both her own clinical experience and case reports in the analytic literature, Lynda Share provides a thorough, at times revelatory, examination of the basic issues. She proposes that the controversy between narrative and historical truth be redefined in terms of the distinctly different memory systems involved and in terms of the special mechanisms whereby trauma, as opposed to ordinary expectable experience, becomes a major unconscious organizer of behavior and memory. Then, winding her way skillfully through contemporary debates about the limits of reconstruction, she argues persuasively that the impact of early infantile trauma can become accessible through disciplined analytic inquiry. Indeed, for Share, to forego the possibility of reconstructing such traumas in favor of an exclusively here-and-now interpretive approach is to risk perpetuating the trauma in all its pathogenicity. By contrast, when trauma can be reexperienced meaningfully in treatment, both behavioral reenactments and trauma-related transference issues can be dramatically clarified. Demonstrating her point with vivid clinical case reports, Share emphasizes the special value of dream interpretation in recovering the full psychological impact of events that occurred in the first few years of life. Through the imagistic dimension of dream formation, unconscious traumatic memories gain access to an expressive vehicle through which the patient, aided by the analyst's understanding, can begin to work through early experiences that have heretofore been dimly known but not felt.

"This book will be a valuable resource for those conducting research focused on trauma- related sleep disturbances and nightmares, and for clinicians working with clients with these problems." --Heidi S. Resnick, PhD, Medical University of South Carolina "Extremely thoughtful and comprehensive....Dr. Davis does a superb job of providing clear, evidence-based treatment with many helpful case examples included. It is a must read for any therapist who treats patients with PTSD." --Sherry A. Falsetti, PhD,University of Illinois College of Medicine Treating Post-Trauma Nightmares presents the only interdisciplinary treatment that brings together literature, theory, and techniques from sleep medicine and psychological perspectives: Exposure, Relaxation, and Rescripting Therapy (ERRT). This groundbreaking treatment specifically targets chronic nightmares experienced by trauma-exposed persons. An empirically based book, Treating Post-Trauma Nightmares discusses the nature and characteristics of trauma-related nightmares, and serves as a guide to clinicians treating patients with PTSD or other trauma- and sleep-related disorders. Davis explores and outlines the treatment process, step-by-step, for those interested in the utilization and evaluation of ERRT. Key Features: Delineates important assessment considerations, providing guidance in the assessment of traumatic events and differential diagnosis of sleep events Includes a section on treatment considerations, addressing potential difficulties therapists or clients may encounter, and provides suggestions for handling these situations Features a complete participant manual that summarizes all components of the treatments explained in the book

Exploring the role of imagination in trauma recovery, the author shares the arresting dreams and stories of traumatized adolescents. Describing the impact of trauma on adolescent health and development, the author provides promising research into the use of breathing skills, HRV Biofeedback, and dream work to promote healthy breathing, emotion regulation, and restorative dreaming. Research suggests that these interventions can decrease post-traumatic distress and assist in the creation of meaningful posttraumatic narratives. The author explores the role of embodied imagination in adolescent spiritual development and posttraumatic growth. These interventions provide clinicians and pastoral caregivers with simple and effective ways of helping adolescents heal from trauma in holistic and dynamic ways that respect the integrated constitution of the human person.