Increased Mastery Elements Associated With Imagery Rehearsal Treatment for Nightmares in Sexual Assault Survivors With PTSD.
Anne Germain, Barry Krakow, Brigitte Faucher, Antonio Zadra, Tore Nielsen, Michael Hollifield, Teddy D. Warner, Mary P. Koss
Dreaming December 1, 2004 DOI: 10.1037/1053-0797.14.4.195 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 44 |
| Population | Female sexual assault survivors with chronic nightmares |
| Intervention | Imagery rehearsal therapy |
| Measures | standardized dream coding system, multidimensional mastery scale |
| Topics | Dreaming PTSD |
| Citations | 78 |
| Key findings | New dreams scripted during imagery rehearsal therapy contained significantly fewer negative elements and more occurrences of positive elements and mastery-related content compared to original nightmares, suggesting mastery plays a role in nightmare reduction. |
Abstract
Exposure, abreaction, and mastery have been proposed as the therapeutic processes of nightmare (NM) reduction. Imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) effectively reduces NMs but involves minimal exposure and abreaction. The authors investigated the use of mastery in the scripting of new dreams (NDs) elaborated during IRT. NM an dN D reports were collected from 44 female sexual assault survivors with chronic NMs during their initial application of IRT. Mastery was assessed with a standardized dream coding system and a multidimensional mastery scale. NDs contained significantly fewer negative elements and more occurrences of positive elements and mas
Comparable studies
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| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy Using Low Doses in a Small Sample of Women with Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Women with chronic PTSD secondary to sexual assault | 2008 | Observational cohort | n = 6 |
| An Ambulatory Polysomnography Study of the Post-traumatic Nightmares of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment-seeking veterans, current serving military members, and emergency service... | 2017 | Observational study using ambulatory polysomnography | n = 35 |
| Posttraumatic stress symptoms following near-death experiences. Persons who report near-death experiences and those who came close to death without NDEs | 2001 | Observational study | |
| Impact of oral ketamine augmentation on hospital admissions in treatment-resistant depression and PTSD: a retrospective study. Outpatients with treatment-resistant depression and PTSD | 2018 | Retrospective review | n = 37 |
| Altered brain activity and functional connectivity after MDMA-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. Veterans and first-responders with chronic PTSD of 6 months or more | 2022 | Observational cohort | n = 9 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 31
- Aetiology and treatment of nightmare disorder: State of the art and future perspectives Journal of Sleep Research January 29, 2019
- Lucid Dreaming Treatment for Nightmares: A Pilot Study Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 2006
- Managing Insomnia Using Lucid Dreaming Training: A Pilot Study. Behavioral Sleep Medicine 2021
- An Expert Consensus Statement for Implementing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Nightmares in Adults Behavioral Sleep Medicine January 15, 2025
- Nightmare Rescripting: Using Imagery Techniques to Treat Sleep Disturbances in Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Frontiers in Psychiatry April 4, 2022
and 26 more in the library
Cites 7
- Lucid Dreaming as a Treatment for Recurrent Nightmares Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics February 18, 2010
- Impact of imagery rehearsal treatment on distressing dreams, psychological distress, and sleep parameters in nightmare patients. Behavioral Sleep Medicine 2003
- Imagery rehearsal therapy for chronic nightmares in sexual assault survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA August 1, 2001
- Treatment of combat‐related nightmares using imagery rehearsal: A pilot study Journal of Traumatic Stress April 1, 2001
- 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
and 2 more in the library