Here are 79 books that Trauma and Dreams fans have personally recommended if you like Trauma and Dreams. Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill: Using Dreams to Tap the Wisdom of the Unconscious

Linda Yael Schiller Author Of PTSDreams: Transform Your Nightmares from Trauma through Healing Dreamwork

From my list on understanding your nightmares and dreams.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've always been fascinated by non-linear ways of knowing. I moved to Boston in the ’80s and became a part of a dance community, and a friend invited me to join a dream circle. My immediate response was “Yes!”, followed by, “What’s a dream circle?” I said yes even before I knew what it was, and that decision formed one of my major life paths personally and professionally. (FYI, a dream circle is a group of people who get together regularly to understand their dreams.) Add this to my years as a trauma therapist, and you have the template for Modern Dreamwork and PTSDreams. My next book focuses on healing ancestorial legacy through dreamwork. 

Linda's book list on understanding your nightmares and dreams

Linda Yael Schiller Why Linda loves this book

Jeremy Taylor was one of my very first dream teachers, and this title may be my most favorite title ever! 

As a minister, Jeremy brings a psycho-spiritual approach to the work, as I do, and he taught us the respectful style of honoring the dreamer who had the dream by responding to it with, "If it were my dream…”, allowing us to associate yet keeping the dreamer as the. Ultimate authority of their dream.

By Jeremy Taylor ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Based on intensive study and thousands of case histories, this remarkable guide opens up the world of dreams by showing readers how to remember and interpret dreams, establish a dream group, learn the universal symbolism of dreaming, and change their lives using their dreams.


If you love Trauma and Dreams...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…

Book cover of Dream Medicine: The Intersection of Wellness and Consciousness

Linda Yael Schiller Author Of PTSDreams: Transform Your Nightmares from Trauma through Healing Dreamwork

From my list on understanding your nightmares and dreams.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've always been fascinated by non-linear ways of knowing. I moved to Boston in the ’80s and became a part of a dance community, and a friend invited me to join a dream circle. My immediate response was “Yes!”, followed by, “What’s a dream circle?” I said yes even before I knew what it was, and that decision formed one of my major life paths personally and professionally. (FYI, a dream circle is a group of people who get together regularly to understand their dreams.) Add this to my years as a trauma therapist, and you have the template for Modern Dreamwork and PTSDreams. My next book focuses on healing ancestorial legacy through dreamwork. 

Linda's book list on understanding your nightmares and dreams

Linda Yael Schiller Why Linda loves this book

Kim is another colleague from IASD, and her work on dream medicine attends to altered states of consciousness, focusing on dreaming, and points out our potential to access healing from many realms. It looks at a wide variety of cultural and spiritual perspectives.

Mascaro walks us through shamanic and indigenous ways of knowing and healing as well as incorporating western styles of dreamwork. Her attention to detail allows the reader to easily try many of her suggestions that honor and include alter-making, plant and animal medicine, and nightmare healing that incudes soul recovery.

By Kimberly R. Mascaro ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dream Medicine as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book surveys both the scientific and the spiritual terrain of altered states of consciousness, highlighting how extrasensory encounters can be soul-healing balm. It explores a wide range of cultural interpretations of out-of-body experiences, from shamanistic practices to the importance of dreams in ancient world cultures. A dozen or more interviews with health-related professionals present unique, holistic glimpses of our inner lives.

Dreaming takes center stage, with the author presenting her most profound and insidious dreams. Part reference work and part guidebook, this book tells readers how to make the most of their dream experiences through a variety of techniques…


Book cover of Kabbalah and the Power of Dreaming: Awakening the Visionary Life

Linda Yael Schiller Author Of PTSDreams: Transform Your Nightmares from Trauma through Healing Dreamwork

From my list on understanding your nightmares and dreams.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've always been fascinated by non-linear ways of knowing. I moved to Boston in the ’80s and became a part of a dance community, and a friend invited me to join a dream circle. My immediate response was “Yes!”, followed by, “What’s a dream circle?” I said yes even before I knew what it was, and that decision formed one of my major life paths personally and professionally. (FYI, a dream circle is a group of people who get together regularly to understand their dreams.) Add this to my years as a trauma therapist, and you have the template for Modern Dreamwork and PTSDreams. My next book focuses on healing ancestorial legacy through dreamwork. 

Linda's book list on understanding your nightmares and dreams

Linda Yael Schiller Why Linda loves this book

Starting from the ancient wisdom of the Kabbalah, Catherine takes us on a journey through esoteric practices that allow us to unlock the power of our own dreaming mind and our intuitive and transformative powers.

She invites us to the perspective that we dream all the time if we know how to attend to waking as well as sleeping dreams. She is one of my spiritual teachers.

By Catherine Shainberg ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Kabbalah and the Power of Dreaming as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Kabbalah and the Power of DreamingCatherine Shainberg unveils the esoteric practices that allow us to unlock the dreaming mind's transformative and intuitive powers. These are the practices used by ancient prophets, seers, and sages to control dreams and visions. Shainberg draws upon the ancient Sephardic Kabbalah tradition, as well as illustrative


If you love Deirdre Barrett...

Book cover of A Forgivable Indecision

A Forgivable Indecision by Shawn Jennings,

In 1913, a 15-year-old pregnant girl was found dead of apparent suicide. Dr. James Wilson, a new graduate and the first doctor ever to start a practice in this rural town, feels guilty over her death because of his delayed intervention.

He knows Bessie was raped by one of her…

Book cover of Dream Tending: Awakening to the Healing Power of Dreams

Linda Yael Schiller Author Of PTSDreams: Transform Your Nightmares from Trauma through Healing Dreamwork

From my list on understanding your nightmares and dreams.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've always been fascinated by non-linear ways of knowing. I moved to Boston in the ’80s and became a part of a dance community, and a friend invited me to join a dream circle. My immediate response was “Yes!”, followed by, “What’s a dream circle?” I said yes even before I knew what it was, and that decision formed one of my major life paths personally and professionally. (FYI, a dream circle is a group of people who get together regularly to understand their dreams.) Add this to my years as a trauma therapist, and you have the template for Modern Dreamwork and PTSDreams. My next book focuses on healing ancestorial legacy through dreamwork. 

Linda's book list on understanding your nightmares and dreams

Linda Yael Schiller Why Linda loves this book

This is one of the best books I know for attending to the images in the dream.

Aisenstadt has developed a whole school around working with dream images, and this book is a delight to read. Much of my own work with images is informed by him. He brings the dream images to life.

By Stephen Aizenstat ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dream Tending as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

You had the most amazing dream last night. It spoke to your highest aspiration-your most secret wish-and presented a vision of a future that was right for you. But now, in the cold light of day, that inspiring dream is gone forever-or is it? According to Dr. Stephen Aizenstat, a psychotherapist, university professor, and dream specialist, dreams are not just phantoms that pass in the night, but a present living reality that you can engage with and learn from in your daily life. In Dream Tending, Dr. Aizenstat shows how to access the power of your dreams to transform nightmare…


Book cover of Preludes & Nocturnes

Ty'Ron W. C. Robinson II Author Of Lost in Shadows: Remastered

From my list on dark fantasy books that fascinate the minds of storytellers and their craft.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m passionate about dark fantasy stories due to the fact of their characters and worlds. The eeriness of their landscapes can tell a tale of their own. Dark fantasy has always been a drawing interest for me when it comes to telling stories. I read these books mainly because of their dark fantasy worlds. The stories and characters which come to life as I read them only captivated my creativity to tell my own stories. It is my sincere desire that you take a look into these books on this list and have your creativity sparked just as my own to craft your own dark fantasy stories.

Ty'Ron's book list on dark fantasy books that fascinate the minds of storytellers and their craft

Ty'Ron W. C. Robinson II Why Ty'Ron loves this book

When it comes to dark fantasy books, The Sandman must be included. Even though it is a comic book series later compiled into ten graphic novels, I had to include it in this list. It inspired me not only to improve my creative writing skills but also taught me about the captivations of mythology. How myths impact generations and still touch others to this day. The combination of dark fantasy and mythology enriches a tale to be told. No matter the setting or the format.

While reading The Sandman, I became attached to Dream of the Endless and his stories. What I took away from it was the fact that dreams never die; they only grow into something more. Something… endless. 

By Neil Gaiman , Sam Kieth (illustrator) , Mike Dringenberg (illustrator) , Malcolm Jones, III (illustrator)

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Preludes & Nocturnes as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman's transcendent series THE SANDMAN is often hailed as the definitive Vertigo title and one of the finest achievements in graphic storytelling. Gaiman created an unforgettable tale of the forces that exist beyond life and death by weaving ancient mythology, folklore and fairy tales with his own distinct narrative vision. In PRELUDES and NOCTURNES, an occultist attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. After his 70 year imprisonment and eventual escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power.…


Book cover of Rushed

Julie Elizabeth Powell Author Of Gone

From my list on independent authors building worlds.

Why am I passionate about this?

Because sometimes I think they go further than the formulas set by traditional publishing.  I love fantasy and similar genres because there are no limits for the imagination. The books I’ve chosen fulfill what I think is important – world-building, imagination, thought-provoking, intelligent, and wonderful characters on a mission of some kind.

Julie's book list on independent authors building worlds

Julie Elizabeth Powell Why Julie loves this book

I’ve read all of this author’s work and the Rushed series is my favourite because although it’s a sinister paranormal fantasy, it is filled with humour. The world-building for each book is amazing – certainly daunting and nasty in parts, yet believable.

There are remarks in reviews that it’s confusing and weird, so maybe you have to be odd to understand and appreciate it. I did, so I must be.

By Brian Harmon ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Rushed as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Eric can't remember the recurring dream that keeps waking him in the middle of the night with an overwhelming urge to leave, yet he spends each day feeling as if he desperately needs to be somewhere. With no idea how to cure himself of this odd compulsion, he decides to let it take its course and go for a drive, hoping that once he proves to himself that there is nowhere to go, he can return to his normal life. Instead, he finds himself hurled headlong into a nightmare adventure across a fractured Wisconsin as the dream reveals itself one…


If you love Trauma and Dreams...

Book cover of USS OBAMA 2130

USS OBAMA 2130 by John. H Sibley,

Voyager 1 was launched on September 5, 1977, and Voyager 2 was launched on August 20, 1977. Both began a historic journey with unique 'time capsules' on board intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials. The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record 12-inch gold-plated disk…

Book cover of Season of Mists

Jeanette Battista Author Of An Unkindness of Ravens

From my list on with death in them.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a hybrid author (both traditionally and independently published), mother of one kid and three cats, and an avid gamer. I’ve been doing the publishing thing since 2012 though I’ve been writing for much longer than that. I have an advanced degree in Medieval Literature and still read things in Middle English for fun.

Jeanette's book list on with death in them

Jeanette Battista Why Jeanette loves this book

Season of Mists is my favorite of Gaiman’s graphic novels from his stellar Sandman run. Death, Dream’s older sister, appears at the end of the first arc and proved to be a fan favorite from that first on-page appearance. She’s a lovely, sweet, and utterly kind incarnation of the boundary that severs this life from whatever comes after. Gaiman creating a comforting presence out of an idea that terrifies most people. She’s charming in this installment, forcing her brother to face his misdeeds with compassion and honesty. It’s no wonder she is one of the only people in his family that Dream listens to!

By Neil Gaiman , Kelley Jones (illustrator) , Malcolm Jones, III (illustrator) , Mike Dringenberg (illustrator) , Dick Giordano (illustrator) , George Pratt (illustrator) , Matt Wagner (illustrator) , P. Craig Russell (illustrator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Season of Mists as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ten thousand years ago, Morpheus condemned a woman who loved him to Hell. Now the other members of his immortal family, The Endless, have convinced the Dream King that this was an injustice. To make it right, Morpheus must return to Hell to rescue his banished love and Hell s ruler, the fallen angel Lucifer, has already sworn to destroy him. Collects THE SANDMAN #21-28.


Book cover of On Dreams

Sharon Sliwinski Author Of An Alphabet for Dreamers

From my list on dreams for the politically conscious reader.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a professor of visual studies from Canada who has always been interested in dream life—although I’ll admit, it took me a long time to treat this domain as a serious research topic (sometimes the somberness of the academy can impede more adventurous pursuits). I created the Museum of Dreams as a place to explore the social and political significance of these visions, which has led to amazing collaborations with institutions, communities, and individuals around the world. I hope this list has inspired you to attend more closely to your own dreams!

Sharon's book list on dreams for the politically conscious reader

Sharon Sliwinski Why Sharon loves this book

I know what you’re thinking, “Freud, really?” Yes, really.

This is one of the origins of that wildly counterintuitive idea that the best way to enlarge the scope of your world is to pay attention to your dreams. But apart from specialized scholars and practicing clinicians, who can read all 700 pages of his giant tomb, The Interpretation of Dreams?

Even Freud realized he needed a shorter book for his ideas to reach the public. So, he produced this “brochure” (as he called it) aimed at a general audience. All of his big ideas are here—dream-work, day residues, the unconscious—but in a much more manageable size.

And reading it offers proof that psychoanalysis remains as vital today as it did when it was invented 125 years ago. 

By Sigmund Freud ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked On Dreams as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Among the first of Sigmund Freud's many contributions to psychology and psychoanalysis was The Interpretation of Dreams, published in 1900, and considered his greatest work - even by Freud himself. Aware, however, that it was a long and difficult book, he resolved to compile a more concise and accessible version of his ideas on the interpretation of dreams. That shorter work is reprinted here. Since its publication, generations of readers and students have turned to this volume for an authoritative and coherent account of Freud's theory of dreams as distorted wish fulfillment.

After contrasting the scientific and popular views…


Book cover of Dream Work: Techniques for Discovering the Creative Power in Dreams

Lara Honos-Webb Author Of Six Super Skills for Executive Functioning: Tools to Help Teens Improve Focus, Stay Organized, and Reach Their Goals

From my list on dream interpretation.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in ADHD. My passion for dreams overlaps with my interest in ADHD which is commonly associated with daydreaming. I have intensively studied dreams in courses, conferences, experiential dream groups, and in years-long therapy that focused only on dream interpretation. I have seen dreams offer insights and at times solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems in my client's lives and also in my own life. I am an author writing on ADHD, executive functioning, and depression including the books The Gift of Adult ADD and The Six Super Skills for Executive Functioning. Dreams can offer insights into all of these conditions suggesting perspectives and healing actions.

Lara's book list on dream interpretation

Lara Honos-Webb Why Lara loves this book

I picked Dream Work because it is “one-stop shopping” meaning it is a comprehensive and thorough review of many different approaches to dream interpretation. I particularly like the quick tips he offers if you don’t want to delve into theory. For example, he recommends you create a title for a dream which is effective in increasing your insight quickly. He also has guidance for working with fragments of dreams and offers a powerful case study of how one small dream fragment of remembering “pastel” colors opened up a new career direction for a dreamer. While many dreamers find dream fragments to be frustrating he shows how these can be condensed and edited “telegrams.” Other quick tips he offers are asking questions about a dream such as “What might happen if I did this in the real world?”

By Jeremy Taylor ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dream Work as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Offers an invaluable tool for the exploration of the inner life contained within our dreams and individual, group,and community techniques for discovering more of the multiple meanings inherent in every dream. With extensive, annotated bibliography.


If you love Deirdre Barrett...

Book cover of Deadly Revenge

Deadly Revenge by Patricia Bradley,

Deputy Jenna Hart has only been working in her sleepy hometown of Pearl Springs for seven months when city officials begin to be targeted by a killer. Twenty years ago, the construction of a dam caused people to lose their land to eminent domain. That wound has not healed with…

Book cover of Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe

Mike Thorn Author Of Darkest Hours

From my list on debut horror short story collections.

Why am I passionate about this?

Mike Thorn is the author of Shelter for the Damned, Darkest Hours, and Peel Back and See. His fiction has appeared in numerous magazines, anthologies, and podcasts, including Vastarien, Dark Moon Digest, and The NoSleep Podcast. His books have earned praise from Jamie Blanks (director of Urban Legend and Valentine), Jeffrey Reddick (creator of Final Destination), and Daniel Goldhaber (director of Cam). His essays and articles have been published in American Twilight: The Cinema of Tobe Hooper (University of Texas Press), The Film Stage, and elsewhere. 

Mike's book list on debut horror short story collections

Mike Thorn Why Mike loves this book

Thomas Ligotti is one of the few writers whose work genuinely, profoundly scares me. His vision is underscored by an all-too-convincing commitment to pessimistic philosophy (which is accessibly detailed in his 2010 book The Conspiracy Against the Human Race). Songs of a Dead Dreamer is haunted by the philosophical outlooks of E. M. Cioran, Arthur Schopenhauer, H. P. Lovecraft, and Edgar Allan Poe, but Ligotti’s fixation on marionettes, dolls, and the illusory nature of human agency is singular and distinctive. This is a masterpiece of existentially disturbing dark literature.   

By Thomas Ligotti ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Thomas Ligotti's debut collection, Songs of a Dead Dreamer, and his second, Grimscribe, permanently inscribed a new name in the pantheon of horror fiction. Influenced by the strange terrors of Lovecraft and Poe and by the brutal absurdity of Kafka, Ligotti crafted his own brand of existential horror, which shocks at the deepest levels. In decaying cities and lurid dreamscapes tormented by the lunatic pageantry of masks, puppets, and obscure ritual, Ligotti's works lay bare the sickening madness of the human condition.

From his dark imagination emerge stories like "The Frolic" and "The Last Feast of Harlequin," waking nightmares that…


Book cover of Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill: Using Dreams to Tap the Wisdom of the Unconscious
Book cover of Dream Medicine: The Intersection of Wellness and Consciousness
Book cover of Kabbalah and the Power of Dreaming: Awakening the Visionary Life

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5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in dreams, ancient Egypt, and PTSD?

Dreams 62 books
Ancient Egypt 132 books
PTSD 118 books