Chronic nightmares occur frequently in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but are not usually a primary target of treatment. To determine if treating chronic nightmares with imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) reduces the frequency of disturbing dreams, improves sleep quality, and decreases PTSD symptom severity. Randomized controlled trial conducted from 1995 to 1999 among 168...
Imagery-rehearsal therapy for chronic nightmares was assessed in a randomized, controlled study of sexual assault survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Nightmares, sleep quality, and PTSD were assessed at baseline for 169 women, who were randomized into two groups: treatment (n = 87) and wait-list control (n = 82). Treatment consisted of two 3-hr sessions and one 1-hr session...