Dream Psychology

[Traveller27]

Hey everyone  

 

Does anyone know what field of psychology one should ideally enter if one's interest is dreams? It seems as though the physical mechanisms behind dreaming have been extensively researched (e.g.,chemical releases, activation of certain brain regions, etc.), but we still have much to learn about why we dream and what purpose dreaming serves. Moreover, I am very interested in the effects dreaming has on everyday life, such as social interaction and feelings about oneself. If anyone knows what psychological discipline(s) would be good for studying dreams, I would appreciate it if I could hear your thoughts!:)

[CounselingPsychPHD]

You could look into Carl Jung and research organizations/professors who utilize his work. I know there are Jungian centers around the country, Houston, TX has a fairly large one. I also know a professor at University of Maryland-College Park in the Counseling Psych department does dream work research. 

[lewin]

 

On 6/2/2017 at 2:53 PM, Traveller27 said:

why we dream and what purpose dreaming serves

Outside of psychoanalytic circles, I'm curious whether there is actually an answer to this question beyond what Freud called the "day residue" and memory consolidation. Some social psychologists have studied the motivated interpretation of dreams, i.e., to what extent dream interpretations are affected by preexisting beliefs, and the effects of dreams on judgments. Morewedge & Norton 2009