“I Dreamt Last Night …”: A New Approach to the Revelations of Dreaming and its Uses in Psychotherapy. By Medard Boss. Trans. by Paul J. Stern. New York:  Gardner Press, 1977.

Medard Boss presents a phenomenological approach to dream interpretation. He proposes a revision of the classical Freudian assumption that a distinction must be made between manifest and latent dream content. Instead, he holds that the dream be viewed from the dreamer's perception as it actually presents itself in the dream. This allows for an evaluation of the extent to which the dreamer's “field of vision” remains open or closed, as well as an examination of the dreamer's relationship to what he is encountering. Consequently, it makes possible a definition of the dreamer's existential structure, with its limitations and barriers.

Experiments are presented in which dreams are induced by hypnotic suggestion in both normal and neurotic subjects. The results indicate that symbolism and disguise operate to a greater degree in neurotic subjects: The dreams of normal subjects present more direct expression of the dream wish.

The book enables the reader to gain a clear understanding of the phenomenological approach by providing 36 concrete “dream examples” of healthy, neurotic, braindamaged, melancholic and schizophrenic patients.