Abstract Index Conference Index

ABSTRACT

1.Type of presentation: Workshop. Two three hour sessions, each on a separate day.

2.Title of presentation: From Dream to Dreamer and from Dreamer to Dream.

Milton Kramer M.D., 
E-mail milton.kramer@worldnet.att.net

Biographical Sketch:

Dr. Kramer has been involved in research in dreaming and the diagnosis and treatment of Sleep Disorders since 1960.He is a past president of ASD and a founding member of the Association of Sleep Disorders Centers. Dr. Kramer has published over 140 articles in the area of Dreams and Sleep Disorders. He is the editor of three books on dreaming, Dream Psychology and the New Biology of Dreaming, Dimensions of Dreams, and The Functions of Dreaming. Dr. Kramer is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at NYU and Director of the Sleep Consultation Service.
4. Summary of presentation: In the first session, the participants will go over a dream and construct the meaning of the dream. They will then predict the life history of the dreamer. In the second session, the participants will be shown a brief interview with the dreamer and then asked to predict each of the REM-dreams of the night.
5.Learning Objectives: Participants will a) be exposed to an approach to grasp the meaning of the dream, independent of the dreamer and to see how well it relates to the life issues of the dreamer; b) begin to experience the relationship between the immediate current concern of the dreamer and the dreams of the subsequent night; and c) begin to consider that there are different patterns of dreaming across the night.

8.Abstact:
In the clinical and educational approaches to dreaming, there is the assumption that the person and his dreams are related. However, the conviction exists that without a detailed knowledge of the dreamer and for some without the dreamer's assistance, the dream cannot be understood. The strength of the connection between the dreamer and his dreams is not fully appreciated. To illustrate the relationship between the dreamer and his dreams two exercises will be undertaken.
In the first session, a dream will be examined, a phrase at a time, to establish the meaning of the dream without the assistance of the dreamer. The group will then predict to the life issues of the dreamer. Two examples will be examined. A discussion will be undertaken to explore the strengths and limitations of the approach
To illustrate further the regularity of dreaming, the connection between the dreamer's current concerns and his night's dreams, the interconnection among the dreams of the night, and the different patterns of dreaming will be examined. Videotaped interviews with two volunteers and their nights videotaped REM- dream collection will be presented.
The participants will be asked to develop the immediate current concern of the volunteer subjects based on the videotaped interview. Using the current concern, the participants will predict the theme of the first dream of the night. Videotape of the collection of the first REM- dream will be shown. The participants will discuss the relationship between the first REM- dream and the immediate current concern. From this integration, they will then attempt to predict the theme of the next REM- dream. A similar effort at discussion, integration, and prediction will follow each presentation of the videotape of the REM- dream collections across the night. A discussion of the pattern of REM dreaming for each subject will be undertaken.

After the presentation of the interviews and dreams of the two subjects have been completed a concluding discussion will be undertaken. An attempt will be made to explore a) was a connection between the dream and the life issues of the dreamer demonstrated, b) was a connection between the immediate current concern and the dreams of the night illustrated, c) were the dreams of the night thematically related, and c) were there discernable patterns of dreaming illustrated.