Developmental perspective dreaming across the lifespan and what this tells us

This chapter takes on the ambitious goal of describing dreaming across the lifespan, integrating both empirical dream research and clinical case examples. Each major stage of the lifespan is discussed, from infancy (where our knowledge of dreaming is speculative at best) to later adulthood. Written from the perspectives of a developmental sleep researcher and a clinician, the chapter weaves together what is known empirically with the usefulness of dreams at different stages to inform clinical understanding. We attempt to provide an integrative view of dreaming which embraces the fundamental ambiguity of dreams across the lifespan.