The 18th Annual Sue Fairbanks Lecture invited the UT Social Work community to consider dreaming as a form of emotional repair. Psychiatrist and psychotherapist Dr. Daniel Morehead, director of residency training at Tufts Medical Center and longtime Austin clinician, delivered a keynote that wove together neuroscience, psychoanalysis, and clinical practice.
“Dreams are about constructing and updating your emotional landscape,” Morehead explained, describing how REM sleep supports associative thinking, emotional integration, and the emergence of insight. He shared how patients often “wake up with an answer or a clearer picture,” underscoring the therapeutic potential of dream work in clinical settings.
In a lively and participatory segment, Morehead shared anonymous dreams and invited attendees to interpret them together. The exercise sparked thoughtful dialogue and demonstrated how dream analysis can illuminate emotional patterns and deepen clinical understanding.
The lecture explored how dreaming helps us metabolize experience — not just trauma, but the everyday emotional residue that accumulates over time. Morehead discussed how dream cycles shift across the night, often becoming more positive, and how this pattern can be disrupted in depression. He emphasized that dreams are not just symbolic — they are functional, helping us reorganize emotional meaning and restore psychological balance.
Sue Fairbanks (MSSW ’81) was present for the lecture, offering a living connection to the legacy she helped build. The annual lecture is supported by the Sue Fairbanks Endowment for Excellence in the Application of Psychoanalytic Knowledge in Social Work.