Description
Book SynopsisThis book presents a simple, effective and illuminating way of understanding and working with dreams in clinical practice. It describes the mechanisms through which the mind/brain processes our experience and forms symbols, which embody a rich network of associations. It demonstrates how the dream and this network of associations can apply on a number of levels and thus shows how the full richness and vital importance of dreams, their meanings and purposes, can be explored. The book also explores the history, theory and science of dreams and dreaming. It reviews the debates between, and contributions from, Freud, Jung and other psychoanalysts, as well as the developments and discoveries from neuroscientists and dream laboratories, bringing the subject right up to date. Whilst the book primarily uses Jungian terminology, and highly values Jung's insights and approach to dreams, it gives a critical, contemporary account of the whole field of dream work and will be useful to practitioners of all theoretical persuasions. The book is a valuable resource for the trainee counsellor or therapist who is just beginning to work with dreams, as well as the experienced practitioner who wants to re-evaluate and re-invigorate their practise. It explores the practical and theoretical difficulties and dilemmas, satisfactions and wonders of working dreams.
Table of ContentsSeries Preface -- An overview of dreaming -- A brief outline of Freud's views on dreams -- A brief outline of Jung's views on dreams -- The language of dreams: the symbolic and the unconscious -- Unlocking the network of associations: the objective, subjective, transference, and archetypal levels of dreams -- Beginning work with a dream -- Exploring some of the basics . . . and not so basics -- Dream architecture: signs and symbols -- The position of the “I”: death, violence, marriage, sex, gender, toilets, time, and location -- The initial dream -- The Wolf-Man’s dream: contrasting Freudian and Jungian approaches -- Recent developments in understanding dreams and dreaming: dream laboratories and the neuroscience of dreams -- Other dreams -- Final thoughts: twenty-first-century dreaming
