Usefulness of the analysis of links among dream sources in therapy

A study of the links among the memory sources of dreams can be carried out by means of an automatic analysis of text files including dream reports and associations. Heuristic criteria can provide plausible explanations for the existence of these links, which generally present a logical and at the same time emotional significance. The aim of this paper is to support the idea that the study of the link patterns among dream sources, in addition to being interesting from the cognitive viewpoint can be also useful for the therapeutic process. An interaction schema is described including four operators: the dreamer (patient), the therapist, the detector of possible links, and the proposer of plausible explanations. Two examples are given of application of this schema. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)