Dreams, Jung, and Memory Reconsolidation

Addressing the intersection between analytical psychology and neuroscience, this book applies the science of memory reconsolidation to Jungian methods of dream interpretation to reexamine Carl Jung’s vision of archetypes and the collective unconscious.

Writing from the perspective of depth and clinical psychology, the author explores how dreams and dreamwork promote neuroplastic changes in the brain, arguing that by developing a relationship with dreams, memories evolve into new emotional experiences. Chapters analyze several dream series through Jungian dream interpretation and connect to several core themes in analytical psychology research, including archetypes, complexes, cultural complexes, and the concept of the "other," using both the author’s own dreams and those of others. Chapters thereby provide concrete illustrations of the neuroscience process of memory reconsolidation concerning Jungian dream interpretation, affecting debate within the two academic fields.

Ultimately contributing new scholarship for those interested in mapping the human brain by understanding the neurobiology of dreams, the book will be of use to scholars, researchers, and postgraduate students in Jungian and analytical psychology, depth psychology, and sleep and dreaming studies.