ABSTRACT
In this chapter I will look at the use of dreams in psychoanalysis from the perspective of the psychology of the self, and I will suggest that one of the central functions in both dream formation and dream interpretation is the restoration of a sense of active mastery to the dreamer. Support for this hypothesis comes from an extension of Kohut’s concept of self-state dreams, from child observation studies that posit a motivational system organized around exploration and assertiveness and the search activity concept of Rotenberg, which is derived from experimental/empirical studies in man and animals.
