Dreaming and Being Dreamt

‘John Schneider has written an outstanding book on the place of dreaming in the theory and practice of psychoanalysis today. It is as if he turns the subject of dreaming in a way that allows the reader to cast his view on this facet and then that, which contributes to an increasingly rich whole as the book proceeds. The writing itself is a large part of the pleasure of reading Schneider’s work. I strongly recommend his book to all those interested in the mutative role of dreaming in the lives of every human being.’ Thomas Ogden is the author of 12 books of essays on the theory and practice of psychoanalysis, most recently Coming to Life in the Consulting Room: Toward a New Analytic Sensibility ‘The inspiring strength of so many of Schneider’s new ideas and views on dreams and dreaming makes his book a new key step in the insurmountably complex, and yet fascinating question of the meaning of thinking, understanding and knowing the human mind. The language in which this book is written is the language of kindness, ripened into a profound respect before the exceeding sensitivity of the human mind; before the host of mysteries and enigmas weaving the human mind, even essentially being the human mind. Such profound respect stands out as a crucial quality of the analyst’s reverie. As we move along his pages, we get the growing feeling of hearing the music of his voice, of his thinking, of his deeply inspiring uncertainty, as well as of the much he knows he does not know. This book lectures us all on how immensely sensitive, exacting and often even frightening it is to sit behind a couch, for the much we have to trust our fragile capacity for dreaming, and the little we can trust the unfortunate much we believe we know.’ João Sousa Monteiro is a psychoanalyst in Lisbon, Portugal, and author of Bion's Theory of Dreams: A Visionary Model of the Mind