Profile pre-empts dream engineer Dr Michelle Carr's guide to the sleeping mind

Profile books has pre-empted Into the Dream Lab: The Science of Nightmares and the Sleeping Mind by dream engineer Dr Michelle Carr.

Editorial director Izzy Everington acquired UK and Commonwealth rights in a pre-emptive offer from Kirsty McLachlan at Morgan Green Creatives.

Into the Dream Lab will be published by Profile in the UK and by Holt in the US in the autumn of 2025.

Carr is the director of the Dream Engineering Laboratory at the University of Montreal and former president of the International Association for the Study of Dreams. Alongside her research and work as a dream engineer, she has published numerous scientific papers, a popular Psychology Today blog, and has written for New Scientist, Aeon and Scientific American among others.

Profile said: “Into the Dream Lab is a guide to the science of dreaming and nightmares, and the astonishing impact the dreaming brain has on your waking life. Within the book, Dr Michelle Carr unlocks the science behind the sleeping body, exploring the relationship between dreams and physical health, with a deep dive into the neuroscience behind some of the most interesting aspects of dreaming: nightmares, lucid dreams and the cutting-edge field of dream engineering.”

The blurb stated: “To most, dreams are things that slip away when you re-emerge into the waking world, their remnants jumbled-up and only half-recalled. At their best, they are populated by pleasant recollections and surreal experiences. But at their worst, they can be traumatising and leave us feeling worse off than when we fell asleep.

“So why do we dream at all? What makes a person more prone to nightmares? How do our bodies interface with our brains when we’re not awake? And how can we harness our sleeping minds to improve our waking lives?” 

Carr said: “The science of dreaming has come a long way in the past few decades, and with this book I hope to reveal just how much we have learned about these hidden lives of the sleeping mind – from nightmares to lucid dreams – and how they impact our health.”

Everington said: "Michelle’s work is cutting-edge, and she has rewritten everything I thought I knew about dreaming and nightmares. Into the Dream Lab opens up a window into a part of life that we all share, but few understand. This book has the power to change so many lives, both waking and sleeping."