An engaging account of the science of dreaming. Written by a leading sleep researcher and a professional dream artist. Makes the biological, psychological, personal, and cultural causes of dreaming accessible. Surveys current theories of the function and meaning (or lack thereof) of dreams. Covers all current scientific work on dreaming, from what happens in the brain when we dream to how dream content relates to our waking life experiences * Each chapter tackles a different type of dream, illustrated through a scientific overview and a professional colour painting

This book proposes a novel view to explain how we as humans -- contrary to current robots -- can have the impression of consciously feeling things: for example the red of a sunset, the smell of a rose, the sound of a symphony, or a pain.
The book starts off by looking at visual perception. Our ability to see turns out to be much more mysterious than one might think. The eye contains many defects which should seriously interfere with vision. Yet we have the impression of seeing the world in glorious panavision and technicolor. Explaining how this can be the case leads to a new idea about what seeing really is. Seeing is not passively receiving information in the brain, but rather a way of interacting with the world. The role of the brain is not to create visual sensation, but to enable the necessary interactions with the world.
This new approach to seeing is extended in the second part of the book to encompass the other senses: hearing, touch, taste and smell. Taking sensory experiences to be modes of interacting with the world explains why these experiences are different in the way they are. It also explains why thoughts or automatic functions in the body, and indeed the vast majority brain functions, are not accompanied by any real feeling.
The "sensorimotor" approach is not simply a philosophical argument: It leads to scientifically verifiable predictions and new research directions. Among these are the phenomena of change blindness, sensory substitution, "looked but failed to see," as well as results on color naming and color perception and the localisation of touch on the body.
The approach is relevant to the question of what animals and babies can feel, and to understanding what will be necessary for robots to become conscious.

In this remarkable book, Brad Steiger shows how to enter a dimension of reality between the physical and the nonphysical, between the world of spirits and the world of humans. Drawing upon information relayed to him by shamans from many tribes during thirty years of research and study, Steiger teaches easy-to-master techniques of entering Dreamtime and receiving valuable personal guidance. He explains how to identify one's totem animal and spirit guide, how to project healing energy in dreams, how to travel in astral dreamscapes, how to guard against disruptive entities, and how to receive prophetic glimpses of the future.

Synthesizing decades of research, The Conscious Brain advances a theory of the psychological and neurophysiological correlates of conscious experience. In the first part of the book, Prinz argues that consciousness always arises at a particular stage of perceptual processing, the intermediate level, and that consciousness depends on attention. Attention changes the flow of information and that gives rise to experience. The resulting account is called the AIR Theory, for attended intermediate-level representations. Objections to the theory are addressed. In the second part of the book, Prinz argues that all consciousness is perceptual: there is no cognitive phenomenology, no experience of motor commands, and no experience of a conscious self. This conclusions challenge popular theories in consciousness studies: the view that we can directly experience our thoughts, the view that consciousness essentially involves action, and the view that every experience includes awareness of the subject having that experience. In the third part of the book, Prinz explores the neural correlates of consciousness. He argues attention-hence consciousness-arises when populations of neurons fire in synchrony, and he responds to those who deny that consciousness could be a process in the brain. Along the way, Prinz also advances novel theories of qualia, the function of consciousness, the unity of consciousness, and the mind-body relation, defending a view called neurofunctionism. Each chapter in The Conscious Brain brings neuroscientific evidence to bear on enduring philosophical questions. Major philosophical and scientific theories of consciousness are surveyed, challenged, and extended.

Some mental events are conscious, some are unconscious. What is the difference between the two? Uriah Kriegel offers an answer. His aim is a comprehensive theory of the features that all and only conscious mental events have. The key idea is that consciousness arises when self-awareness and world-awareness are integrated in the right way. Conscious mental events differ from unconscious ones in that, whatever else they may represent, they always also represent themselves, and do so in a very specific way. Subjective Consciousness is a fascinating new move forward towards a full understanding of the mind.

This volume explores the relationship between oneiric and historical episodes of atrocity as depicted in transnational twentieth- and twenty-first-century art, film, literature and theatre. Examining the political and aesthetic power harnessed by dreams in increasingly 'dark times', it takes as its starting point the overlooked significance granted to the oneiric beyond Freudian psychoanalysis. By reading the oneiric within variously known cultural texts - including Holocaust fiction, world cinema, Bronx theatre, surrealist art and two collections of wartime dream transcriptions - the volume also offers a renewed perspective on modern and contemporary trauma. In so doing, it demonstrates the relevance of the oneiric, beyond the interpretative framework of psychoanalysis, as an aesthetic and political tool with which to alert us and respond to the violence of our contemporary world. -- .

This book is a scientifically current, integrative, and practical guide for understanding clinical hypnosis and its place within a new health care paradigm. Blending four original short stories with a treatise, it alternates narrative prose with health science discourse to create a framework for embracing systemic emotional and relational elements that lie beyond diagnosis, medication, surgery, and psychotherapy. Following the stories of four characters, the authors establish an empirically-grounded conceptualization of the mind, then demonstrate how practical applications of therapeutic hypnosis can help readers use individual and family resources in health and healing. Clinicians will learn to improve their care by embracing emotional, relational, and narrative elements that powerfully affect health beyond diagnosis, medication, surgery, and psychotherapy. Further, health care educators and policy makers will find inspiration that enriches professional training.

'A truly awe-inspiring piece of writing' David Robson, author of The Intelligence Trap In recent decades, many philosophers and cognitive scientists have declared the question of consciousness unsolvable, but Antonio Damasio is convinced that recent findings in neuroscience, psychology and artificial intelligence have given us the necessary tools to solve its mystery. In Feeling & Knowing, Damasio elucidates the myriad aspects of consciousness and presents his analysis and new insights in a way that is faithful to our own intuitive sense of the experience. In forty-eight brief chapters, Damasio helps us understand the relation between consciousness and the mind; why being conscious is not the same as either being awake or sensing; the central role of feeling; and why the brain is essential for the development of consciousness. He synthesises the recent findings of various sciences with the philosophy of consciousness, and, most significantly, presents his original research which has transformed our understanding of the brain and human behaviour. Here is an indispensable guide to understanding the fundamental human capacity for informing and transforming our experience of the world around us and our perception of our place in it.

What do psychedelics reveal about consciousness? What impact have psychedelics had on philosophy? In this rapidly growing area of study, this is the first volume to explore the philosophy of psychedelic experience, from a range of interdisciplinary and cross-cultural perspectives. In doing so, Philosophy and Psychedelics reveals just why the place of psychedelics in our societies should not be left to medical sciences alone, as psychedelic experience opens up new perspectives on fundamental philosophical questions relating to human experience, ethics, and the metaphysics of mind. Mapping a range of philosophical responses to the surge in studies into psychedelic drugs in the cognitive sciences, this go-to volume examines topics including psychedelics and the role of governance; psychedelics and mysticism; what psychedelics can tell us about dyadic thankfulness; and psychedelics as ways to gain new knowledge. Written by leading international scholars, the essays cover Western and non-Western traditions, from analytic philosophy to Zen Buddhism, and discuss a variety of hallucinogens, such as LSD, MDMA, and Ayahuasca, in order to build a much-needed bridge between the rapidly growing scientific research and the philosophy behind psychedelic experience.

Unlock your unconscious, record your dreams and reveal their hidden meanings. All you need is this journal, a pen and a good night's sleep. As Freud famously said, dreams are the royal road to the unconscious. But before we set foot on that path, we need to know why we dream and how we can read them. Packed with suggestions, facts and advice on all things dream-related, this book will be your essential guide to help you: Improve your dream recall Learn the basics of dream interpretation Identify common dream symbols and concepts Understand your dreams and their meanings Explore themes and imagery in your dreams It also provides plenty of space to chronicle your visions and includes a range of quotes from some of the biggest dream experts and philosophers to help you reflect on your visions and interpret them with greater confidence. It's time to puff up the pillows, slip into a deep slumber and have sweet dreams!

What do you do when you're not asleep and when you're not eating? You're most likely waiting-to finish work, to get home, or maybe even to be seen by your doctor. Hold On is less about how to manage all that "staying where one is until a particular time or event" (OED) than it is about describing how we experience waiting. Waiting can embrace things like hesitation and curiosity, dithering and procrastination, hunting and being hunted, fearing and being feared, dread and illness, courting and parenting, anticipation and excitement, curiosity, listening to and even performing music, being religious, being happy or unhappy, being bored and being boring. They're all explored here. Waiting is also characterized by brain chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine. They can radically alter the way we register the passing of time. Waiting is also the experience that may characterize most interpersonal relations-mismanage it at your own risk. Hold On contains advice on how to cope with waiting-how to live better-but its main aim is to show how important the experience of waiting is, in popular and highbrow culture, and, sometimes, in history. Detouring into psychology, neurology, ethology, philosophy, film, literature, and especially art, Peter Toohey's illuminates in unexpected ways one of the most common of human experiences. After reading his book, you'll never wait the same way again.

Ever dream that you were flying? Or being chased? Do you wake up and wonder 'what did that mean'? Decoding your dreams can offer incredible insight into yourself and your life. Every night, your dreaming mind is gently and subtly counselling, guiding and inspiring you. This journal is the perfect tool to recall and interpret your dreams, giving an incredible opportunity for personal growth. The Dream Decoder Journal gives you instructions and helpful tips on how to recall your dreams, as well as tools to decipher their meanings, including interpretations of 60 of the most common dreams, explaining what your unconscious mind is telling you, and what events or situations in your waking life might inspire certain dreams. This improved self-awareness can be used as a tool to deal with challenging emotional situations or life choices. This book is the companion to Dream Decoder, a set of cards that pairs archetypal dreams with common interpretations. Author Theresa Cheung has been researching and writing about spirituality and personal transformation for over 20 years. She has written two Sunday Times top 10 bestselling books about dream interpretation.

Time and Memory throws new light on fundamental aspects of human cognition and consciousness by bringing together, for the first time, psychological and philosophical approaches dealing with the connection between the capacity to represent and think about time, and the capacity to recollect the past. Fifteen specially written essays offer insights into current theories of memory processes and of the mechanisms and cognitive abilities underlying temporal judgements, and draw out key issues concerning the phenomenology and epistemology of memory and its role in our understanding of time.

The book's first three chapters-by Sheehan and Robertson; Wagstaff; Council, Kirsch, and Grant - conclude that three different factors turn imagination into hypnosis. The next three chapters-by Lynn, Neufeld, Green, Rhue, and Sandberg; Rader, Kunzendorf, and Carrabino; and Barrett-explore the hypnotic and the clinical significance of absorption in imagination. Three subsequent chapters-by Coe; Gwynn and Spanos; and Gorassini-examine the role of compliance and imagination in various hypnotic phenomena. Pursuing the possibility that some hypnotic hallucinations are experienced differently from normal images, the following two chapters-by Perlini, Spanos, and Jones; and Kunzendorf and Boisvert-focus on negative hallucinating, which reportedly "blocks out" perceptual reality. The remaining three chapters-by Wallace and Turosky; Crawford; and Persinger-pursue other physiological differences, and possible physiological connections, between hypnosis and imagination.

Offers guidance on using hypnosis with children to address physical and mental challenges. Changing Children's Lives with Hypnosis is a timely collection of patients' healing experiences, the story of how these events changed one physician's approach to medicine, and the takeaway information parents and practitioners should consider as they deal with medical and psychological challenges in their children's and patients' lives. Every year millions of pediatric patients could benefit from hypnosis therapy to deal with and alleviate physical and psychological symptoms big and small. The benefits of hypnosis-facilitated therapy range from complete cures to small improvements. They extend beyond the physical and into the psychological and spiritual, building confidence, positivity and resilience. They include the empowerment of children with chronic health issues to feel more in control of their own minds, bodies and circumstances. They sometimes lead to the reduction or even elimination of medications. Hypnosis is painless, non-invasive, and cost-effective. It doesn't preclude any other treatment, and drawbacks are virtually nonexistent. In a world where the doctor's primary role has become more and more one of a technician-pinpoint a problem, prescribe a solution, and move to the next patient-hypnosis brings connection and art back into the process. It relies on a relationship between practitioner and patient, encourages creativity and expression, and allows patients to take ownership of their experience with the support and encouragement of their doctors. Children deserve the opportunity to receive gentle, thoughtful, empowering, and effective treatment in whatever form it's available. Hypnosis therapy offers all of those things, and it's time for patients, parents, and medical practitioners to embrace it-even to demand it. Through meaningful stories and expert explanation, this book takes readers through the process of hypnosis for children and its myriad benefits for overall wellness.

Our subjective inner life is what really matters to us as human beings--and yet we know relatively little about how it arises. Over a long and distinguished career Benjamin Libet has conducted experiments that have helped us see, in clear and concrete ways, how the brain produces conscious awareness. For the first time, Libet gives his own account of these experiments and their importance for our understanding of consciousness.

Most notably, Libet's experiments reveal a substantial delay--the "mind time" of the title--before any awareness affects how we view our mental activities. If all conscious awarenesses are preceded by unconscious processes, as Libet observes, we are forced to conclude that unconscious processes initiate our conscious experiences. Freely voluntary acts are found to be initiated unconsciously before an awareness of wanting to act--a discovery with profound ramifications for our understanding of free will.

How do the physical activities of billions of cerebral nerve cells give rise to an integrated conscious subjective awareness? How can the subjective mind affect or control voluntary actions? Libet considers these questions, as well as the implications of his discoveries for the nature of the soul, the identity of the person, and the relation of the non-physical subjective mind to the physical brain that produces it. Rendered in clear, accessible language, Libet's experiments and theories will allow interested amateurs and experts alike to share the experience of the extraordinary discoveries made in the practical study of consciousness.

- there's a growing market of interest for learning about depth psychology from other than Euro-centric viewpoints - strong potential as recommended reading for sociology and anthropology studies, in addition to its wide use among the Jungian community

- there's a growing market of interest for learning about depth psychology from other than Euro-centric viewpoints - strong potential as recommended reading for sociology and anthropology studies, in addition to its wide use among the Jungian community

Social support and sleep are both health promoting factors and important in the prevention of illness and sick-leave. Promoting healthy work by providing good conditions for strong social relationships and by preventing bullying or harassment can improve sleep and consequently employee health, increasing work productivity and efficiency overall.

Teaching the World to Sleep provides a complete, science-based overview of sleep and sleep problems, from environmental, legal and technological factors to assessment and treatment options. David R. Lee introduces the basic scientific concepts involved in sleep and provides a clear description of insomnias and the parasomnias. Teaching the World to Sleep discusses NICE recommended Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBTi) and the REST (R) programme and outlines considerations for at-risk groups, sleep and the law, and the application of dreams and dreaming in psychotherapy. This second edition includes a full update on research conducted since the publication of the first edition and includes new information on sleep in the legal setting, the rise of sleep apps and trackers and their impact on our sleep. Lee also considers neurodiversity, sleep in long Covid, rare and unusual sleep disorders and the delivery of treatment using the NHS recommended stepped-care approach. Teaching the World to Sleep will be essential reading for psychotherapists, occupational therapists, and other professionals working with clients with sleep problems. It will also provide an accessible introduction to the science of sleep to readers looking to understand their own sleep problems.

Teaching the World to Sleep provides a complete, science-based overview of sleep and sleep problems, from environmental, legal and technological factors to assessment and treatment options. David R. Lee introduces the basic scientific concepts involved in sleep and provides a clear description of insomnias and the parasomnias. Teaching the World to Sleep discusses NICE recommended Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBTi) and the REST (R) programme and outlines considerations for at-risk groups, sleep and the law, and the application of dreams and dreaming in psychotherapy. This second edition includes a full update on research conducted since the publication of the first edition and includes new information on sleep in the legal setting, the rise of sleep apps and trackers and their impact on our sleep. Lee also considers neurodiversity, sleep in long Covid, rare and unusual sleep disorders and the delivery of treatment using the NHS recommended stepped-care approach. Teaching the World to Sleep will be essential reading for psychotherapists, occupational therapists, and other professionals working with clients with sleep problems. It will also provide an accessible introduction to the science of sleep to readers looking to understand their own sleep problems.

Builds on the work of Bion and Ogden, both of whom remain very fashionable in psychoanalysis * Contains new theory and practical guidance * Dreams remain a core topic in psychoanalysis

Builds on the work of Bion and Ogden, both of whom remain very fashionable in psychoanalysis * Contains new theory and practical guidance * Dreams remain a core topic in psychoanalysis

Written by a professor of clinical of psychology, this book is accessible to thoughtful readers who seek to be better informed on how to harness the creative energy of madness to enrich one's life. It comprises two main parts: The first part tells the story of how a psychologist-cum-patient performs a self-study of "madness" in great detail. It belongs to the long tradition of ideographic studies that attend to the uniqueness of each individual. The author says: "During episodes, manic symptoms are manifest. Yet, I become more colorful, sensitive, generous, and loving. I see beauty everywhere and delight in the simple things of life. I glimpse into mystical magnanimity. My mind explodes: Creative thoughts rain down fast. Now, I can bear testimony that on balance the creative energy of madness may enrich rather than damage one's life, and that it is possible to retain a measure of madness in dignified living and of dignity even in a state of madness." The second part gives extensive coverage to various aspects of mental disorders from a scientific perspective. Adhering to the nomothetic tradition of knowledge generation, it provides the psychiatric as well as ethical, political, and sociocultural contexts for understanding mental disorders in general and the author's own case in particular. The two parts are linked together and integrated in a dialectical fashion, with the interplay between nomothetic and idiographic methods leading to a deeper understanding that neither one may obtain alone.