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Induced Dreams. . New York: Vantage Press, 1967. x + 173
The Third Reich of Dreams. . Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1966. 177
The Kris Study Group, under the leadership of Dr. Charles Brenner, was engaged in systematic work for two years. They covered questions of dreams during brief naps, dreams occurring during the analytic hour, the use of dreams in the light of new physiological research, and special aspects of dream interpretation at different phases of analysis.
While the intentions of the group were highly laudatory and ambitious, the results are not impressive, probably due to the necessity of covering elementary dream concepts for the benefit of the trainees. However, the pattern and scope of the study group is a fine example of what can be accomplished by more advanced colleagues getting together on a regular, sustained basis with definite goals and experimental studies in mind.
Dr. Sacerdote's book is based on the so-called theory and therapeutic application of hypnotically-induced dreams of more than 200 patients, some of whom were under treatment for only one or two weeks. The cases cover virtually every phase of somatic, psychosomatic and behavioral difficulty. The author thinks that under the effect of “programmed dream induction,” (a click of the therapist's ball-point pen starts the hypnotic dreaming; the second click stops it), it is possible to give direction to some or all of dream productions and to structure even their latent content. For this reviewer, grotesque stage versions of America Hurrah come to mind.
The author justifies this procedure by stating that most dreams, especially the ones which the analysand remembers for the analyst, are in reality structured and induced dreams. This is a false analogy. There is a big difference between that which cannot be avoided and is natural