A controlled study of imagery rehearsal for chronic nightmares in sexual assault survivors with PTSD: a preliminary report.
Journal of Traumatic Stress October 1, 2000 B Krakow, M Hollifield, R Schrader et al.
Imagery-rehearsal therapy reduced nightmare frequency and PTSD severity and improved sleep quality in sexual assault survivors with PTSD. In a randomized controlled trial, 169 women were assigned to either a treatment group receiving three therapy sessions over 5 weeks or a wait-list control. At a 3-month follow-up of 91 women, the treatment group showed moderate to large improvements compared to small changes in the control group, with effect sizes ranging from 0.57 to 1.26. Despite a large dropout rate, the therapy is effective for chronic nightmares in this population.