The Nature and Functions of Dreaming

This book presents a comprehensive theory of dreaming based on many years of psychological and biological research by Ernest Hartmann and others. Critical to this theory is the concept of a Central Image; dreams of being swept away by a tidal wave are common among people who have recently experienced a trauma of some kind. Dreams with these Central Images are not dreams of the traumatic experience itself, but rather the Central Image reveals the emotional response to the experience.