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Long Term Reduction of Nightmares with Imagery Rehearsal Treatment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2009

Barry Krakow ,
Robert Kellner ,
Dorothy Pathak  and
Lori Lambert
Barry Krakow
Affiliation:
University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Robert Kellner
Affiliation:
University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Dorothy Pathak
Affiliation:
University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Lori Lambert
Affiliation:
University of New Mexico School of Medicine
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Abstract

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. The findings support the theory that nightmares may be clinically conceptualized as a primary sleep disorder in some chronic sufferers.

Type
Clinical Section
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 24 , Issue 2 , April 1996 , pp. 135 - 148
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 1996

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