Multimodal behavioral treatment of nonrepetitive, treatment-resistant nightmares: a case report.
Perceptual and Motor Skills December 1, 2004 Barry A Tanner
A 23-year-old woman who had experienced nightmares for 17 years was treated with a combination of relaxation procedures, a mnemonic to increase lucid dreaming, and dream rehearsal upon waking from a nightmare. Unlike typical nightmares reported in the literature, hers lacked a common theme and did not respond to several frequently used techniques. Previous treatment episodes had not affected the incidence of the nightmares, but the combination approach resulted in a sharp decrease in nightmare frequency within four sessions. Further improvement was reported over the next nine months as additional techniques were introduced, and the gains were maintained during a nine-month follow-up.