The Emotional Content of Dreams

The analysis of dreams is often crucial in clinical
work with trauma
survivors and other populations who have experienced
life-altering
events. Dreamwork can be beneficial for survivors
when done in a way
that allows safe access to trauma and emotional
content. The
exploratory study outlined in this book was the first
to use two major
dream content scales on a dataset of trauma and
general dreams. A
significant difference was found between the dreams
of trauma
survivors and general dreams. Those of trauma
survivors contained
more powerful negative emotions. The study outcomes
engender both
research and practice implications. As awareness of
trauma grows,
practice guidelines are essential to clinicians.
Nightmares and other
highly charged dreams are signals that intervention
is required. This
study provides a direction for these clinical
interventions that can be
utilized in different practice settings, augmenting
both their efficacy
and the recovery process.

Autorentext
Dr. Goelitz is a writer and a scholar. She has done extensivepublic speaking, publishednumerous articles, and co-authored an award winning Resourcedirectory for caregivers. Her current writing projects include researcharticles, a trauma textbook, and a book on how to cope with stress. She has taught at ColumbiaUniversity and Hunter College.

Klappentext
The analysis of dreams is often crucial in clinicalwork with trauma survivors and other populations who have experiencedlife-altering events. Dreamwork can be beneficial for survivorswhen done in a way that allows safe access to trauma and emotionalcontent. The exploratory study outlined in this book was the firstto use two major dream content scales on a dataset of trauma andgeneral dreams. A significant difference was found between the dreamsof trauma survivors and general dreams. Those of traumasurvivors contained more powerful negative emotions. The study outcomesengender both research and practice implications. As awareness oftrauma grows, practice guidelines are essential to clinicians.Nightmares and other highly charged dreams are signals that interventionis required. This study provides a direction for these clinicalinterventions that can be utilized in different practice settings, augmentingboth their efficacy and the recovery process.