Solving human psychological problems using lucid dreams
Nikolay Sergeevich Lukachev
RU SCIENCE December 30, 2025 DOI: 10.64457/ru-science-2025-i04-a12 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Lucid dreaming |
| Key findings | Lucid dreaming has been used to treat recurring nightmares associated with trauma, but its broader psychotherapeutic use remains untested. |
Abstract
The article discusses that some people throughout their lives feel that they are “waking up” and are conscious during sleep and even make conscious decisions during them. Such “lucid dreams” are not only a vivid and memorable experience for the dreamer, but are also of great interest to neuroscientists and psychologists. This is because they represent a strange mixture between the waking consciousness and the dream, which can reveal entirely new things about the inner life and the subconscious. Many of the traumas that people experience throughout life are processed in dreams. So far, the psychotherapeutic use of lucid dreaming remains untested, but it has been used to treat recurring nightmares that are often associated with trauma. The purpose of the article is to consider the possibilities of using lucid dreams to solve human psychological problems.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on lucid dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming | 2019 | Review | |
| My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares? | 2019 | Review | |
| What about dreams? State of the art and open questions | 2022 | Review | |
| The Dream of God: How Do Religion and Science See Lucid Dreaming and Other Conscious States During Sleep? | 2020 | Review | |
| Insight and Dissociation in Lucid Dreaming and Psychosis | 2018 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cites 4
- Lucid dreaming: Correspondence between dreamed and actual events in one subject during rem sleep Biological Psychology June 1, 1984
- Lucid Dreaming Experience in the Context of Meditation Experience Психолог May 1, 2022
- Psychosis: Between Dreams and Perceptual Reality Brain: Broad Research in Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience 2020
- Daydreams and nap dreams: Content comparisons. Consciousness and Cognition July 9, 2015