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...
An eighteen month follow-up of chronic nightmare sufferers treated with imagery rehearsal, a cognitive-behavioral method, demonstrated significant and clinically meaningful decreases in nightmare frequency. Sixty-eight percent of subjects decreased their nightmares below criteria for a “Chronic Nightmare Disorder”. Significant improvement was also noted for sleep quality and daytime anxiety....