We present a brief review of sleep research which, when combined with psychoanalytic experience, has led to the hypothesis that REM sleep and dreaming serve the function of adaptation by the process of integration of information. We then report the results of a study of dreams, based on this hypothesis. We studied dreams and their relation to waking mental activity and found a correlation between problems in manifest dreams and those in pre- and postsleep waking life. Dreams can be understood on the basis of problems that appear in them. We also found evidence for a relation between the solution of problems in dreams and the fate of those problems the next day. We discuss these findings in relation to some of the controversies about dreaming, and then present suggestions for future research.

This article explores the manner in which REM sleep deprivation might affect various aspects of memory processing. A series of tests, including Sternberg's test of scanning of immediate memory, past personal and nonpersonal memory, and past emotional memories, was administered to eight subjects after baseline, control-awakening, and REM-deprivation nights. The results showed that only past, emotionally important memories may have been affected by REM deprivation; access to the emotion connected with the memories was decreased. This finding is discussed in relation to a possible function of REM sleep and to the effects of REM deprivation on depression.

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This article explores basic issues in the status dynamics of psychotherapy and supervision. Self-presentation and status markers create a dynamic that affects the participants in psychotherapy and in its supervision. "Political correctness" at times, makes it difficult for trainees to discuss their feelings and observations about status differences with their supervisors. One of the roles of supervision is the rite of passage, involving moving the trainee from the world of nonpsychologist to membership in the community of psychologists. During supervision, the supervisor's self-disclosure of relevant autobiographical details and problematic thoughts and feeling is recommended as useful, even though such revelations in psychotherapy practice might be inappropriate or hazardous.