Lucid Dreaming as a Treatment for Recurrent Nightmares
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics February 18, 2010 Antonio L. Zadra, Robert O. Pihl 120 citations
Lucid dreaming, where a person becomes aware they are dreaming while still asleep, can help treat recurrent nightmares. In five cases, treatments combining relaxation, guided imagery, and lucid dream induction, or induction alone, eliminated nightmares in four people and reduced their intensity and frequency in the fifth over a one-year follow-up. These results align with earlier reports and suggest that training in lucid dreaming has therapeutic value, though it remains unclear whether the benefit comes from lucidity itself or the ability to change the dream.