Catching the Dream: A Parent's Guide for Children's Dreams

Catching the Dream is a comprehensive evaluation of every aspect of children's dreaming with an in-depth analysis of each. It explains why dreaming is important to children's physical and emotional well-being, is thoroughly researched and uses actual dreams to illustrate each topic. The information in this book teaches parents how to determine what kind of dream the child has experienced, what the dream possibly means, what could have caused the dream, and how to integrate the dream into the child's daily life. It also teaches parents what can affect children's dream contents, how children can have happy dreams, when dreams have a needed message about children's well-being (physical or emotional), and how dreams can reveal children's imaginal skills, ego development, and psychosocial stage. There are chapters on nightmares and night terrors: what causes them, what they mean, what to do if the child is experiencing them, and how to work with them. The book includes a chapter on sleep: what it is, why it is important to dreaming, sleep disorders, and how to have a good night's sleep. Although the title indicates that this work is oriented towards children's dreams, there is a great deal of information within it that applies to adult dreaming as well. Author Janet S. Gould holds a B.S. in Behavioral Science from Our Lady of Holy Cross College and an M.A. in Transpersonal Studies from Atlantic University with extensive training in dreamwork. For over a decade, she has taught classes on working with dreams and has led numerous dream support groups. She spends her time writing and conducting private dream counseling sessions. She is a member of the Association for the Study of Dreams, the Association for Research and Enlightenment, and the National Sleep Foundation.