You probably don’t remember all of them, but you have on average three to five dreams a night. Dreams help with problem solving and emotional processing as your brain catalogs short-term memory and stores it for the long term.
Host Anita Rao talks with dreamworker Angel Morgan, a past president of the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD) and a professor of transpersonal psychology at Sofia University. She's also the founder and director of Dreambridge, an organization providing resources and education on the link between dreams and creativity.
Also joining the conversation is Chris Ufere, the founder and CEO of uDreamed, a global dream database. He discusses the “COVID-19 dream” phenomenon. And Michael Nadorff, associate professor of psychology at Mississippi State University, explains the research linking nightmares to suicide — and how nightmare therapy can provide interventions to both.
Thank you to Catherine, Ashley, Grace, Zaida, Chate, Matt and Mark for contributing dream stories to this episode!
What’s In a Dream?
Here are a few snippets of dream stories, shared by our listeners in response to a question about the strangest dream they ever had:
“[The roller coaster] flew off silently, off into the distance, presumably off into space … and then I turned to my friend, because we were about to get onto the next cart, and I said: ‘It’ll be fine.’”
-Grace
“I often put my phone down somewhere and can’t find it later … I dreamed I did this with a baby. I lost and forgot my baby in a drawer or duffel bag.”
-Catherine
“I see this giant, half-melted — you know that movie, ‘Annihilation’? Like, straight outta that movie — zombie-looking elephant … and I know it’s looking for me.”
-Chate
Please note: This episode originally aired on March 11, 2022.
A few updates from Angel Morgan:
- She will be co-hosting IASD's 40th Annual Dream Conference in Ashland, Oregon on June 18-22, 2023.
- She is directing the Dream Studies Certificate program at Sofia University.
