Second Fridays – March
March 13th, 2026
International Visiting Scholar Gail Lewis
April 11th, 2026
Neuropsychoanalysis Spring Seminar
Dreams, Daydreams, and Reverie: Enriching Clinical Work with a Neuropsychoanalytic Perspective
Dr. Margaret R. Zellner
Friday Jan 9, 11:45 AM – 1:15 PM, 6 sessions until Jun 5
This seminar will explore the neurobiological underpinnings of dreams, daydreaming, and fantasy.
These findings show ways to expand how we work with dream material and attend to reverie in the clinical moment. A neuropsychoanalytic perspective has the ability to illuminate the ways in which unconscious fantasy can be expressed in dreams, bodily sensations, and repeated patterns of behavior. We will explore how fantasy facilitates memory reconsolidation and the development of new learning, allowing us and our patients to update old predictions and expand the ability to work, love, and play. This exploration will both support established psychodynamic methods of attending to fantasy, and may suggest new ways to work with dreams and reverie.
Dates: 1/9, 2/6, 3/6, 4/3, 5/1, 6/5
PINC Event times are US/Pacific unless otherwise noted. This conversion will help you find other local times.
CE Credits offered: 9
Course Objectives
After completing this course participants will be able to:
- describe the neural circuits most closely associated with dreams and daydreams, and discuss how dreaming and daydreaming are neurologically similar but also different.
- identify psychodynamic similarities and differences between reverie in therapy and daydreaming, and generate clinical hypotheses about working with material generated from both processes that are informed by the subjective and neurological similarities and differences
- name the components of the default mode network, and the conditions under which it is typically most active
- describe the role of the SEEKING system, prefrontal cortex, and the occipito-temporo-parietal junction in dream generation
- describe the role of the default mode network and other resting state networks in meditative states, and discuss how these findings may inform clinical work
- demonstrate how the biological process of dream generation confirms many of Freud’s ideas about dreams.
- generate clinical hypotheses about how cultivating awareness of daydreaming/noticing reverie in psychotherapy can assist with memory reconsolidation and new emotional learning.
db.pincsf.org/events 415-288-4050 ❖ 530 Bush St, Suite 703, SF CA USA ❖ office@pincsf.org
The Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. PINC maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Visit db.pincsf.org/policies for policies and disclaimers.
Event Start
Location
Online via Zoom (Pacific Time Zone)
CA
United States
CA
United States
Event Fee(s)
| Registration | |
| General | $320.00 |
| Candidates Students and CMH | $295.00 |
| CE Credits (9) | $75.00 |