Ernest Hartmann, MD
Oxford University Press, 2010
The Nature and Function of Dreaming presents a comprehensive theory of dreaming based on many years of research by Ernest Hartmann and his collaborators. Critical to this theory is the concept of the Central Image. Hartmann starts with his repeated finding that dreams of being swept away by a tidal wave, or something similar, are common among adults who have recently experienced a trauma – a fire, an attack, or a rape. These Central Images clearly picture not the experience but the emotion: I am terrified; I am swept away. Central Images can be reliably identified and scored. This has led to a series of studies, including a large systematic study of dreams before and after 9/11/01. Highlights of the entire theory will be presented, including the view that dreaming and poetry are closely related.
About the Author: Member of BPSI , Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine, and first Editor-in Chief of Dreaming , Ernest Hartmann is a world- renowned expert who has written eleven books and more than 300 journal articles on dreaming, sleep, personality and boundaries. His two new books (2011) are The Nature and Functions of Dreaming and Boundaries: A New Way to Look at the World
