Scottish Institute of Reflexology

How dreaming keeps us sane, or can drive us mad”
Joe Griffin & Ivan Tyrell (Human Givens Publishing, £16.99, ISBN 1899398368)

Have you or your clients ever been intrigued, puzzled, or worried by the content of your dreams? Have you ever wondered what your dreams mean?  Here is a fascinating and comprehensive book which goes a long way towards explaining what is happening when we dream and which explains how we, as therapists, are able to help our clients through an informed understanding of the dream process. 

Joe Griffin spent 12 years researching the subject, determined to find an answer to why we dream, and within these pages you will find references to explanations put forward since early times right up to sleep research from the last 50 years.  Dreaming Reality tells the story of his search, how he developed his theory, known as the “expectation fulfilment theory” and the practical uses to which it can be put.  This theory is consistent with findings from current sleep research but also reveals important new psychological insights into depression, psychosis and the role that the state in which most dreams occur (the REM state) plays in our lives.

I babysat recently for my 11-month old grandson.  He had been at his uncle’s wedding, had met lots of people, danced with folk  and had stayed up late!  When my son brought him home he said “he’ll need a good sleep to sort his head out”.  This is what the authors discover.  It is fascinating reading the descriptions of dreams and the situations from the previous day which bring them about….until Joe realises that the waking experiences, including thoughts, which result in dreams are ones that involve the arousal of feelings that are not acted out or given expression during the day.  Dreams are therefore a metaphorical acting out of undischarged emotional arousal from our unfulfilled expectations of the previous day.

 This frees the brain to deal with the emotionally arousing concerns of the next day.Anyone interested in the role and importance of REM sleep – and we all know that one of the first benefits of reflexology is that our clients begin to sleep better – will find a wealth of information here and will also find a theory which convincingly links the major biological facts about dreaming with the symbolic content of dreams.

To read more non-members can subscribe to Footnotes by contacting the Secretary on 0141 773 0018 or email : info@scottishreflexology.org