Why do dreams matter, and how can we use them to support waking life? In this episode of The Dream Journal, host Katherine Bell speaks with Canadian author and health journalist Karen Van Kampen about her book The Brain Never Sleeps: Why We Dream and What It Means for Our Health. Together they explore dream science, memory, mental health, dream sharing, nightmare rescripting, dream engineering, lucid dreaming research, and the emerging study of anesthesia dreams as potentially healing experiences.
Karen shares how childhood experiences in her father’s sleep lab shaped her fascination with dreaming, why dreams may act like a “highlight reel” of waking concerns, and how practices such as dream journaling, dream salons, and imagery rehearsal therapy can help us engage dreams with curiosity and care. The conversation also looks at cutting-edge research on guiding dreams, communicating with lucid dreamers, and the possibility that anesthesia dreams may help people revisit difficult memories in a calm, transformative state.
- Why dreams are connected to memory, mental health and waking life
- How dream sharing builds empathy and new perspectives
- Imagery rehearsal therapy and practical ways to rewrite nightmares
- Dream engineering, sleep onset creativity and technology-assisted dreaming
- Lucid dreaming research and two-way communication with dreamers
- Anesthesia dreams, healing dreams and post-traumatic growth
- How stories, memories and dreams shape identity
Timestamps
- 00:00 Introduction to The Dream Journal
- 01:02 Meet Karen Van Kampen and The Brain Never Sleeps
- 03:36 Karen’s early life with her sleep-scientist father
- 05:12 Dream deprivation, sleep and mental health
- 07:31 Memory consolidation and the “next up” model of dreaming
- 09:47 Dream salons, dream sharing and collective insight
- 15:33 How dreams reveal waking-life concerns
- 17:16 Thought suppression and why it can rebound in dreams
- 18:36 Imagery rehearsal therapy and rewriting nightmares
- 24:44 Dream engineering and guiding dreams with technology
- 28:20 Lucid dreaming and two-way communication with dreamers
- 31:46 Anesthesia dreams and healing dream experiences
- 39:43 Consciousness, memory and dreams as a 24-hour continuum
- 44:31 Final encouragement: becoming empowered dreamers
BIO: Karen van Kampen is a Canadian author and journalist who specializes in health and science. Her latest book is the instant national bestseller “The Brain Never Sleeps: Why We Dream and What it Means for our Health”. Her fascination with dreams began at the age of nine when she was her father’s first sleep lab “assistant,” helping him practice electrode hook-up and testing.
Contact our guest: KarenvanKampen.com
This show, episode number 368, was recorded during a live broadcast on June 20, 2026 at KSQD.org, community radio of Santa Cruz.
SHARE A DREAM FOR THE SHOW or a question or enquire about being a guest on the podcast by emailing Katherine Bell at katherine@ksqd.org. Follow on LI, IG, YT, FB, & LT @ExperientialDreamwork #thedreamjournal. To learn more or to inquire about exploring your own dreams go to ExperientialDreamwork.com.
Video podcast available at youtube.com/@experientialdreamwork. Popular playlists: “Dream Journal shorts” and “FULL LENGTH VIDEOS”.
Here are links to some other Dream Journal episodes you might be interested in:
Get a Better Night’s Sleep with Dr. Chris Winter
Nightmares and Suicide with Dr Michael Nadorff
Intro and outro music by Mood Science. Ambient music new every week by Rick Kleffel. Archived music can be found at Pandemiad.com. Many thanks to Rick for also engineering the show and to Erik Nelson for answering the phones.
The Dream Journal aims to:
Increase awareness of and appreciation for nightly dreams.
Inspire dream sharing and other kinds of dream exploration as a way of adding depth and meaningfulness to lives and relationships.
Improve society by the increased empathy, emotional balance, and sense of wonder which dream exploration invites.
A dream can be meaningful even if you don’t know what it means.
The Dream Journal is produced at and airs on KSQD Santa Cruz, 90.7 FM. Catch it streaming LIVE at KSQD.org 10-11am Pacific Time on Saturdays. Call or text with your dreams or questions at 831-900-5773 or email at onair@ksqd.org. Podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms the Monday following the live show. The complete KSQD Dream Journal podcast page can be found at ksqd.org/the-dream-journal/.
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