Nightmare help: Treatment of trauma survivors with PTSD

The literature on post-traumatic stress disorder describes recurrent nightmares as a symptom of post-trauma adjustment difficulties. Because nightmares frequently represent unresolved conflict from past catastrophic event(s), they merit consideration as a direct part of counseling and therapy. In this article the author presents information on nightmare therapies to include treatment strategies, techniques, and discriptive accounts of implementations. The case histories are gathered from a population of combat veterans undergoing specialized treatment for PTSD. The therapeutic outcomes suggest these techniques are highly effective. The direct nightmare therapies described by the author consistently reduced the anxiety-producing features of nightmares and, in many instances, eliminated them altogether.