HIGHLIGHTS

In recent years, the ascendancy of biological, cognitive, and behavioral approaches to the treatment of psychiatric disorders has superceded the training and utilization of psychodynamic approaches, especially dream analysis. In this book Dr. Gardner presents rich material he has gleaned from patients’ dreams over the last 40 years, making a profound case for incorporating dream psychoanalysis into the clinician’s therapeutic portfolio. Dr. Gardner considers the dreams and their analyses presented here to be “the best of the best,” and illustrative of how a vivid, well-analyzed dream can contribute to a patient’s psychotherapeutic progress. Although Freud’s concepts, especially of the unconscious, are accepted by him as valid premises, Dr. Gardner does not reflexively incorporate Freudian theory into his analytic work. Recent insights into dream analysis are also incorporated, such as the value of dreams in alerting the dreamer to dimly recognized dangers. Accordingly, the dream may have more importance for its survival value than for the wish-fulfillment function emphasized by Freud. Other purposes of dreams are also dealt with. The book’s contents include: Fundamental principles of dream analysis; techniques for teaching adults, adolescents, and children how to analyze their dreams; and analyses of dreams (often verbatim) of adults, adolescents, and children. Gardner’s approach is highly practical, providing the reader with specific techniques for helping patients analyze their dreams. The synthesis of Dr. Gardner’s extensive clinical experience with his unique talent for responding to patients’ symbolic material should help mental health practitioners appreciate the value of incorporating dream analysis into their own therapeutic work. And the book provides such practitioners with the tools to do so. mediation process. The last chapter provides recommendations for change, especially in the education of lawyers and mental health professionals.