ABSTRACT

DREAMS BEFORE AND AFTER 9/11/01: THE EFFECT OF TRAUMA ON DREAMS - SYMPOSIUM 

Ernest Hartmann MD (Chair) 
Tufts University School of Medicine
Newton Wellesley Hospital,   Boston

Dr Hartmann has been President of ASD and the first Editor-in-Chief of the journal DREAMING. He is the author of over 300 scientific publications and nine books including, most recently, Dreams and Nightmares, Perseus 2001.

Michael Zborowski PhD
State University of New York College at Buffalo.  
Buffalo NY

Dr Zborowski  is Professor of Psychology at SUNY College at Buffalo. He is the author of about 50 articles and abstracts dealing with aspects of dreaming and personality.

Holly Pavia BA.  
Laboratory of Sleep and Chronobiology, 
Boston; Lesley College, Cambridge, MA.

Holly Pavia works with Dr. Charles Czeisler at the Laboratory of Chronobiology at Brigham and Women's hospital, Boston. She is obtaining a graduate degree at Lesley College. She has a long-standing interest in dreams and has been working on dream-related projects with Drs Hartmann and Zborowski.

Alan Siegel PhD.    
UC Berkeley
Department of Clinical Science

Dr. Siegel is a Past-President of ASD and Program Chair for the 2003 conference. He is author of Dream Wisdom: Uncovering Life’s Answers in Your Dreams.

Summary of Presentation

There has been great interest in the effects of trauma on dreams, but little actual research work. On the assumption that we all suffered a trauma in September 2001, this symposium will present the results of two systematic research studies comparing dreams before and after 9/11/01. The clearest result is that dreams are more intense after 9/11/01. This will be discussed and correlated with  clinical material.

Learning Objectives.

• To become  familiar with research on trauma and dreams.

• To learn  about recent research on the CI score, measuring the intensity of the Central Image, or Contextualizing Image.

• To learn  specifically about the effects of 9/11/01 on  dreaming.

Evaluation questions:

• What is the difference between an anecdote or clinical case, and a research project?

• What effects does trauma have on sleep, and on dreams and nightmares?

• What is a Contextualizing Image, and why should we care?

Abstract 

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There will be two, or possibly three research presentations followed by a formal discussion. Hartmann and Pavia  will present material on dreams systematically collected from dream  journalers before and after 9/11/01. It has been hard in the past to study dreams after trauma systematically, since the best comparisons are within the same persons, and this would require people who regularly record their dreams for a long time, happen to experience a trauma during this time, and are willing to share the dreams before and after trauma with researchers, without change or selection.   However, the events of 9/11/01 produced some degree of trauma in all of us. On this assumption we solicited twenty dreams -- the last ten recorded before 9/11 and the first ten after -- from any dream journalers ( recorders) willing to share these dreams. We have obtained thirty such series so far, of which sixteen have been completely scored on a blind basis, using a number of scales. So far the only clear significant difference has been on the CI score:  Dreams imagery is scored as more intense after 9/11 than before. Data on many other dream scales will be presented. Zborowski and Pavia will present data, still being analyzed, on most recent dreams and also one-week dream logs obtained from large numbers of students several months before 9/11 and similar data obtained three weeks after 9/11. Pavia will discuss the CI scoring system, and present data from several studies.  Siegel will discuss these studies in the context of his clinical work on dreams in patients who have experienced a variety of trauma, including the trauma of 9/11/01.
   

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