Looking first at the nature of dreams as studied in the laboratory during the last thirty years, this article (Part I) considers methods of knowing dreams and what is meant by dream interpretation. Within the context of current research in cognitive science, it is proposed that at least some dreams are generated by a regulatory system seeking to establish organismic balance, and in this sense fulfill a problem-solving function. A five-step method designed to facilitate dream understanding is sketched: it is a programmatic procedure that helps users recover aspects of their own dream formation process and probes the regulatory system by helping users discern the problem(s) a dream may be attacking. In Part II, the method will be illustrated and evaluated through the analysis of one dream in extenso.
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