Self-reported effects of dreams on waking-life creativity: an empirical study

The authors studied the self-rated effect of dreams on creativity in participants who were not selected for creative abilities. Students (N = 444) and online respondents (N = 636) answered a questionnaire about dreams and creative dreams. In addition, the students completed several personality measures and creativity scales. Results indicated that dreams that stimulated waking-life creativity played a considerable role in the lives of ordinary people (about 8% of all dreams). Examples reported by the online participants fell into 4 categories: (a) dream images used for art, work, or similar areas; (b) dreams that solved a problem; (c) dreams that provided the impetus to do something that the dreamer otherwise had difficulty doing; and (d) dreams containing emotional insights. The main factors influencing frequency of creative dreams were dream recall frequency and the thin boundaries personality dimension. Future researchers should use diary techniques to study the effects of dreams on waking life and should develop techniques to increase the frequency of creative dreams that might be valuable as aids for people in creative jobs.     

Brief communication: a comparison of the place of dreams in institute curricula between 1980-1981 and 1998-1999.

The analysis of dreams was central in demonstrating Freud's theory of mind and the power of unconscious forces. Many analysts informally comment that dreams no longer seem to hold the same centrality they had for analysts who were trained prior to the 1980s. This paper presents a brief study assessing whether there has been a change in the teaching of dreams in psychoanalytic institutes. Comparison of theoretical and clinical courses on dreams in 1980-1981 and 1998-1999 indicates that the actual number of hours devoted to teaching dreams has in fact decreased. However, there are indications that a renewal of interest in dreams may now be occurring, at least in some institutes. The relationship between views on the role of dreams and perspectives on psychoanalysis itself is discussed.     

On examination dreams.

The literature concerning examination dreams is reviewed, and the case of a patient who had a number of examination and examination-like dreams is described. Examination dreams are related to traumatic dreams, "idiosyncratic" dreams, and various behavioral expressions. In addition, constitutional factors involving impulse-defense imbalance, childhood experiences with physical difficulties and medical examinations, and ambivalent identifications and object relations seem to find representation in these dreams.     

Dreams and reality monitoring

Experiment 1 tested the counterintuitive prediction that memories for one's own dreams should not be particularly easy to discriminate from memories for someone else's dreams. Pairs of people reported dreams to each other that they had either dreamed, read, or made up the night before. On a test requiring subjects to discriminate events they had reported from those reported by their partner, subjects had more difficulty with real dreams than with dreams they read or made up. Experiment 2 provided evidence that real dreams do not simply produce overall weaker memories; the deficit for dreams was eliminated with more time to respond and with more detailed cues. In addition, subjects' ratings of various characteristics of their memories (e.g., vividness, personal relevance) indicated that dreams were not generally weaker or impoverished. The results are interpreted within the framework for reality monitoring described by Johnson and Raye (1981): Memories for real dreams are proposed to be deficient in conscious cognitive operations that help identify the origin of information generated in a waking state. At the same time, real dreams are embedded in a network of supporting memories that can be drawn on for reality monitoring decisions under appropriate circumstances. Finally, a comparison of recognition and recall indicated that dreams may leave persisting memories that are difficult to access via free recall.     

Dreams as a Meta-Conceptual or Existential Experience

The paper argues that dreams (or the recollected experience of dreams) consist partly in an awareness or experience of the conceptual fabric of our existence. Since what we mean by reality is intimately tied to the concepts given in our experience, dreams are therefore also partly an awareness of the fabric of what we mean by being itself and in general, that is, by objective as well as subjective reality. Further, the paper argues that this characteristic of dreams accounts for several other, more specific aspects of dreams and their possible interpretation, and that it allows us to see how these aspects are related to each other. These more specific aspects are the peculiar types of conceptual or logical relations and transitions that occur within dreams, dreams’ distinctive feeling texture, and some dimensions of the grounds and nature of suitable methods of interpreting dreams.     

Dreams,psychoanalysis and virtuality: the ancient mind in the modern world

The modern psyche is being shaped by the technological revolution involving the development of a virtual electronic environment in replacement of the natural world. Through the lens of the dream, as it has been valued and devalued in various cultures (including psychoanalysis), we can explore changes in the status of inner life. Psychoanalysis at first celebrated, now ignores dreams. This development runs parallel to the high value of dreams in pre‐industrial cultures and their demotion in contemporary post‐industrial Western culture. Despite official disregard for dreams, dreams as the original virtual experience, serve as the basic model from nature for the electronic virtual world displayed on the external screen. Also, dreams reappear in a technological transformation as film, video, TV and computer imagery. The ancient importance of dreams has been transferred to the powerful influence of life on the external screen. But dreams as dreams are like “the canary in the mind,” warning of a continuing demotion of inner life in modern “post‐human” culture. A rebellious re‐engagement with dreams, in clinical and theoretical psychoanalysis, is advocated.     

Dreams and acting out

Dreams can be used as containers that free patients from increased tension. This may be the principal function of certain types of dreams, called "evacuative dreams." They are dreams used for getting rid of unbearable affects and unconscious fantasies, or as a safety valve for partial discharge of instinctual drives. These dreams are observed primarily in borderline and psychotic patients, but can also be seen in the regressive states of neurotic patients during weekends and other periods of separation. Such dreams have to be differentiated from "elaborative dreams," which have a working-through function and stand in an inverse relationship to acting out: the greater the production of elaborative dreams, the less the tendency to act out, and vice versa.     

Dreams and Suicide

The dreams of suicidal patients are contrasted to those of nonsuicidal, depressed patients. The dreams of suicidal patients often reveal wishes for revenge, punishment, reunion, fusion, and rebirth. Confusions between the patient's body and that of others are suggested by the dreams of some suicidal patients. Dreams in suicidal individuals may portray disintegration of the self (self-state dreams). The phenomenon of transparency in suicidal dreams is discussed as it pertains to Rorschach studies.     

Dreaming under fire: the psyche in times of continuous stress

Continuous stress and trauma are manifested in dreams, the study of which can expand our knowledge concerning unconscious reactions to trauma and efforts of coping with continuous traumatic situations. In our research we asked people living under continuous threat of rocket attacks to record their dreams and their associations to them during four consecutive weeks. We collected 609 dreams from 44 women and 18 men (age range 14-62). The dreams submitted were analysed according to the Jungian approach in the light of the information and associations presented by the subjects. Full dream series of dreamers from each group were analysed in an attempt to capture the depth-psychological experience of living and dreaming under fire. The most frequent themes found were: ‘concrete vs. symbolic', ‘togetherness', ‘active ego', ‘fear and anxiety', ‘shadow' and ‘personal issue'. The subjects were divided into three age groups. Differences between the occurrences of themes were examined. On the unconscious level our results showed that the adolescents group seemed to be the most vulnerable to the stress situation (preponderance of concrete dreams), the mature adults group was the least influenced by it (preponderance of symbolic dreams and of the ‘personal issue' theme) and the young adults group made the greatest psychological efforts for coping (preponderance of ‘active ego' theme). We noted few anima figures appearing in the men's dreams, while animus figures appeared in the women's dreams. In another study undertaken immediately after one of the recent wars in Gaza we collected dreams of Israelis living in the south of Israel who were under heavy daily rocket attacks, and dreams of Palestinians living in the West Bank. The most significant difference we found between the groups was a preponderance of symbolic dreams among the Palestinians, as opposed to a preponderance of concrete trauma dreams among the Israeli group living on the Gaza border. In both groups we found archetypal symbols of evil. In conclusion, dreams can help us detect emotional distress, even when subjects seem ‘ok'. Early detection and working with dreams can help prevent the severity of delayed PTSD.     

The consciousness of surrender and the surrendered consciousness: ecstatic dreams of Lord Krishna

This article is based on research at Bhaktivedanta Manor, the main UK centre of the Hare Krishna movement, and it examines ecstatic dreams of Lord Krishna which devotees at the Manor claim to experience. With a focus on one key informant's account of such dreams, the article explores the role the dreams play in spiritual and devotional life. Moving away from psychoanalytic and from similar or related psychological interpretations of spiritual dreams, it advances an alternative approach, a phenomenologically oriented approach rooted in the work of the French philosopher Jean‐Paul Sartre. The article further contends that this provides students and scholars of spiritual dreams with a helpful model, not merely for analysing accounts of ecstatic dreams reported by members of the Hare Krishna movement, but also, perhaps, for interpreting spiritual or ecstatic dreams reported by adherents of other faiths.     

Psychotherapists' dreams about their patients

Abstract This study examines therapists’ dreams about their patients from the Jungian and the relational perspectives. Few clinical and empirical references to this subject are to be found in the literature. In the present study 31 dreams were collected from 22 therapists. Dreams were collected using anonymous self‐report inventory. The research focused on three theoretical research questions: 1. What themes appear in the manifest content of therapists’ dreams about their patients? 2. What contributions are made by Jungian interpretation of therapists’ dreams about their patients? 3. To what extent are masochistic contents present in the manifest content of therapists’ dreams about their patients? The first question was addressed using categorical content analysis of a) themes common to different dreams and b) pre‐determined themes for all dreams. The third research question was addressed using Beck's (1967) ‘Masochistic Dream’ measure. Results: Among the themes common to different dreams were: therapist‐patient role reversal; therapist and/or patient attends and remains in meeting, departs/doesn’t depart; cancellation of therapy session; sexuality between therapist and patient; aggression; presence vs. absence; non‐verbal relationship and communication; time; driving vs. stopping. With regard to pre‐determined themes it was found that in 20 of the 31 dreams, the therapist had a negative experience and was characterized as vulnerable. Likewise it was found that 26 out of 31 dreams took place in either a) a street, a road, a route, a corridor; b) en route to somewhere; c) a therapy room and/or building; d) a house. With regard to the contribution of Jungian interpretations of the dreams it was found that 17 of the dreams had diagnostic and prognostic elements, 4 of which were initial dreams, 9 of them were compensatory dreams and in 14 it was found that the patient represents the shadow of the therapist. With regard to the third question it was found that 18 of the 31 dreams met Beck's (1967) criteria for masochistic dreams. The theoretical discussion examines the findings from a Jungian perspective, with an emphasis on also understanding the dream in terms of its expression of relational aspects of the therapist‐patient relationship. The findings affirm the presence of the ‘wounded healer’ archetypes in therapists’ dreams about their patients. The results of the study indicate that therapists’ dreams about their patients can be a valuable tool for deepening understanding of the therapeutic relationship and process.     

Perverse dreams and dreams of perversion

This paper (1) posits the occurrence of perverse dreams as a type of mental phenomenon in the constellation of perverse processes; (2) considers manifest dreams of frank perversion as a type of perverse dream within the class of perverse dreams as a whole; (3) relates the subtype of perverse dreams without manifest perversions to the occurrence of perverse defenses and the development of a perverse transference; and (4) suggests that consideration to perverse dreams in the psychoanalytic process finds application in identifying and differentiating perverse defenses from neurotic and other characterologic patterns; in identifying and tracing the vicissitudes of difficult perverse transference-countertransference constellations; and in furthering perverse patients' recognition and understanding of particularly troublesome and seemingly intractable issues in their psychic makeup. Clinical material illustrates perverse dreams and their usefulness in the often arduous process of analyzing perverse defenses.     

Daydreams and nap dreams: Content comparisons

Differences between nighttime REM and NREM dreams are well-established but only rarely are daytime REM and NREM nap dreams compared with each other or with daydreams. Fifty-one participants took daytime naps (with REM or NREM awakenings) and provided both waking daydream and nap dream reports. They also provided ratings of their bizarreness, sensory experience, and emotion intensity. Recall rates for REM (96%) and NREM (89%) naps were elevated compared to typical recall rates for nighttime dreams (80% and 43% respectively), suggesting an enhanced circadian influence. All attribute ratings were higher for REM than for NREM dreams, replicating findings for nighttime dreams. Compared with daydreams, NREM dreams had lower ratings for emotional intensity and sensory experience while REM dreams had higher ratings for bizarreness and sensory experience. Results support using daytime naps in dream research and suggest that there occurs selective enhancement and inhibition of specific dream attributes by REM, NREM and waking state mechanisms.     

Measuring consciousness in dreams: The lucidity and consciousness in dreams scale

In this article, we present results from an interdisciplinary research project aimed at assessing consciousness in dreams. For this purpose, we compared lucid dreams with normal non-lucid dreams from REM sleep. Both lucid and non-lucid dreams are an important contrast condition for theories of waking consciousness, giving valuable insights into the structure of conscious experience and its neural correlates during sleep. However, the precise differences between lucid and non-lucid dreams remain poorly understood. The construction of the Lucidity and Consciousness in Dreams scale (LuCiD) was based on theoretical considerations and empirical observations. Exploratory factor analysis of the data from the first survey identified eight factors that were validated in a second survey using confirmatory factor analysis: INSIGHT, CONTROL, THOUGHT, REALISM, MEMORY, DISSOCIATION, NEGATIVE EMOTION, and POSITIVE EMOTION. While all factors are involved in dream consciousness, realism and negative emotion do not differentiate between lucid and non-lucid dreams, suggesting that lucid insight is separable from both bizarreness in dreams and a change in the subjectively experienced realism of the dream.     

The spirit of the school of principles in Zhu Xi’s discussion of “Dreams”—And on “Confucius did not Dream of Duke Zhou”

Dreams were a topic of study even in ancient times, and they are a special spiritual phenomenon. Generations of literati have defined the meaning of dreams in their own way, while Zhu Xi was perhaps the most outstanding one among them. He made profound explanations of dreams from aspects such as the relationship between dreams and the principles li and qi, the relationship between dreams and the state of the heart, and the relationship between dreams and an individual’s moral improvement. He summarized previous generations’ understanding of dreams and infused a new dimension from the School of Principles, pointing out a direction for individuals’ moral cultivation and spiritual pursuit. Zhu Xi also examined the opinions of Zhang Zai, Cheng Yi, Hu Hong and other thinkers on Confucius not dreaming of Duke Zhou in his later years, revealing differences between thinkers in the School of Principles. An analysis of Zhu Xi’s thoughts on dreams will provide deeper insight into the research on the School of Principles.     

Träume werden zwischen den Menschen geträumt

Because we humans have a multitude of relationships, which first allow us to live, dreams as a natural phenomenon can express this basic feature of humans but they can also be understood specially for various relationships: they depict multiple relationships in which we are involved, illuminate relationships, give another new component to conscious knowledge and in this way alter relationships. We tell each other about dreams and exchange them amongst ourselves in a special narrative sphere.When working with dreams in the therapeutic process, the messages of dreams on the analytical relationship are important information and experiences from an unaccustomed perspective. That both the analysand and the analyst share an understanding of the dreams, is shown in particular by the initial dream. It can conclusively be shown in dream series how relationship conflicts change through the work with dreams.     

Psychoanalytic dream theory and recent neurobiological findings about REM sleep

I have reviewed Hobson and McCarley's activation-synthesis hypothesis of dreaming which attempts to show that the instigation and certain formal aspects of dreaming are physiologically determined by a brainstem neuronal mechanism, their reasons for suggesting major revisions in psychoanalytic dream theory, and neurophysiological data that are inconsistent with their hypothesis. I then discussed the concept of mind-body isomorphism pointing out that they use this concept inconsistently, that despite their denials they regularly view physiology as primary and psychological processes as secondary, and that they frequently make the error of mixing the languages of physiology and psychology in their explanatory statements. Finally, in order to evaluate Hobson and McCarley's claim that their findings require revision of psychoanalytic dream theory, I examined their discussions of chase dreams, flying dreams, sexual dreams, the formal characteristics of dreams, the forgetting of dreams, and the instigation of dreams. I concluded that although their fascinating physiological findings may be central to understanding the neurobiology of REM sleep, they do not alter the meaning and interpretation of dreams gleaned through psychoanalytic study.     

Linking Metaphor and Dreams in Clinical Practice

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to weave together selected aspects from the theoretical domains of metaphor and dreams. With respect to dreams, the paper draws on theorists who argue for the continuity hypothesis of dreaming. Of particular interest is the symbolic value that may be placed on the manifest dream. Establishing the significance of the manifest dream is an important step toward linking its imagery with our daytime figurative language in a meaningful way. Further, the notion that dreams symbolically capture our self-state lends support to the idea that there may be thematic correspondence between our dreams and metaphors. This may be most apparent when we compare dominant metaphors with recurring dreams.     

Reflections on the self state dream

Self psychologists contend that patients with narcissistic personality disorders have dreams which cannot be understood in terms of current psychoanalytic dream theory and that these dreams, called self state dreams, have a different origin and structure. The manifest content of these dreams is said to reveal the reactions of healthy sectors of the psyche to disturbing changes in the condition of the self. Self psychologists are said to be able to understand these dreams directly, without the patients' associations, as portrayals of the dreamers' dread of threats to the integrity of the self. The authors raise questions about these contentions. They conclude that the self state dream will remain a dubious concept until a more extensive psychology of dreaming is provided by self psychologists.     

Dances of Desire: Commentary on Papers by Dianne Elise and Jonathan H. Slavin

The richness and creativity of early classical work with dreams became narrowed through doctrinaire obedience to Freud's brilliant hypotheses. Interpersonal psychoanalysis, though originally little interested in problems of mind and private mentation, may be well suited, in part due to its lack of a comprehensive dream theory, to a clinical approach to dreams that is relatively open‐minded, pluralistic, complexly layered, collaborative, and playful. Multiple possibilities for the meanings of dreams and multiple ways of approaching dreams in analytic therapy are suggested. Although many therapists for complex reasons shy away from working on dreams, an interpersonal approach recognizes that several wishes of both patient and analyst may be significantly fulfilled in the pleasures of working together on dreams. If it is mindful of what is unfortunately a growing tendency to project into all dreams a single‐minded preoccupation with transference and countertransference, and if it respects the world of dream imagery in its own right, interpersonal psychoanalysis can make a genuine contribution to our understanding of dreams and dreams can lend an important dimension to interpersonal concepts. Several clinical examples are presented in an effort to highlight an approach that “stays with the image”; and allows the dream images to make their way into the psychoanalytic dialogue.