Dreams And Nightmares: The Origin And Meaning Of Dreams

by Ernest L. Hartmann

Drawing on his clinical practice, his research on sleep and dreaming, and over five thousand of his own dreams, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Ernest Hartmann proposes a new theory of dreams that shows us how they help us make sense of our emotions and, ultimately, reveal most profoundly who we are. Dreams are meaningful, he argues-and in the process takes on neurobiologists, who believe that dreams are merely random products of the chemistry of the brain, and Freudians, who attribute every dream to the fulfillment of a childhood wish. He shows how dreams, guided by the emotions of the dreamer, make broad connections among our experiences in life. In the end, he concludes, dreaming is immensely useful to the most important psychological task we face-gathering knowledge about ourselves.

Genres: Psychology

328 pages, Paperback

First published November 10, 2000

Reviews

[choannjo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was okay because I find the subject matter generally interesting but it isn’t particularly special. Really suffers from trying to paint a complete picture and give an overview of the entire field of dreaming when he probably should have just focused on his own theories and ideas, because those parts were entertaining

Will say the ending was randomly really touching and made me almost cry

[Gidi Rosenfeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book that covers a lot of material. Definitely for the more scientifically minded but touches on more esoteric themes at times. I'd recommend this as a good introductory text for those interested in dreaming.