Imagery rehearsal therapy in addition to treatment as usual for patients with diverse psychiatric diagnoses suffering from nightmares: a randomized controlled trial.
The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry September 1, 2015 Annette van Schagen, Jaap Lancee, Izaäk W De Groot et al.
Imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) reduces nightmare frequency, nightmare distress, and general psychiatric symptoms in patients with a range of psychiatric disorders. In a trial of 90 patients, those who received six individual IRT sessions added to their usual treatment showed moderate improvements compared with those receiving treatment as usual alone. The benefits were largely sustained three months later. IRT involves patients changing the script of a nightmare into a new dream and practicing it during the day.