Dr. Brigitte Holzinger, Director of the Vienna Institute for Consciousness and Dream Research, speaking at a recent Dart Centre discussion on “Lucid Dreaming as a Cure for Nightmares?” at the Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling Education (CCPE). Photo by Refqa Abu-Remaileh

Viennese psychotherapist Dr. Brigette Holzinger’s presentation on Lucid Dreaming in May at the Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling Education (CCPE) in London was out of the ordinary for journalists, but absorbing.

As one of the world’s leading researchers on sleep and dreams, and as Director of the Vienna Institute for Consciousness and Dream Research www.traum.ac.at (in German), Dr. Holzinger came to tell us about an important new study she has been conducting: lucid dreaming as a cure for nightmares and post-traumatic stress.

The event may have sounded quirky and a little off tangent for sceptical news people. However, Dr. Holzinger believes her research and vision may, for some, provide a healthier and more life-enhancing alternative to say, a prescription of anti-depressants.

“In my opinion, it would be great for journalists to learn lucid dreaming,” Dr. Holzinger said, especially for those who after years of frontline reporting begin to see signs of post-traumatic stress and suffer uncontrollable nightmares.

She believes that lucid dreaming is a learnable skill and has developed tools and techniques, in fact a whole course, on teaching people how to do this.

Describing lucid dreaming, she emphasised two points: first that the dreamer is aware that he is dreaming and second that the dreamer is able to make decisions and have ‘dream control’.

“Is it useful to teach journalists how to dream in this way, and could help them cope with distressing situations,” Dr. Holzinger was asked. “Lucid dreaming can help give a sense of control,” she replied, “you can wake yourself up or change the plot of a nightmare. It’s a tool [journalists] can choose to use or not use—it could be another armament.”

Some journalists see signs of post-traumatic stress much later, when things finally begin to filter in. That is when Dr. Holzinger recommends the combination of the therapy and a course on lucid dreaming that she has seen to be effective through her research with nightmare sufferers. While on the job, though, Dr. Holzinger recommends writing dreams down as a start.

Even though very little is known about the full potential of lucid dreaming, it is not a wishy-washy subject, and is tested using rigorous scientific and clinical methodology. Dr. Holzinger introduced research done by colleagues William Dement and Stephen LaBerge at Stanford University (where she earned her PhD). LaBerge’s experiments found that researcher and dreamer could actually communicate and signal to each other when the dreamer becomes lucid.

Dr. Holzinger calls it the “paradoxical dream state” because conscious abilities are associated to lucid dreams as opposed to non-lucid dreams. Her own research found that the part of the brain activated during lucid dreaming is associated to language skills, through which consciousness is fed.

Children often have a natural ability to lucid dream, especially in changing the plot of a nightmare to make it less frightening. That is what initially got Dr. Holzinger interested in the idea that lucid dreaming could be used as a cure for nightmares. Nightmares are usually described as vivid and terrifying nocturnal episodes from which the dreamer wakes up abruptly and then has difficulty returning to sleep.

In a recent study conducted by Dr. Holzinger at her Institute in Vienna, nightmare sufferers were asked to undergo group therapy, while an experimental group was asked to undergo both therapy and a course in lucid dreaming. She found that, in general, people reported that they slept better and there was a drop in the frequency of nightmares. However, it is the experimental group that saw the most success with eight out of nine reporting that after completing the course, they no longer suffered nightmares.

Dr. Holzinger attributes this to the combination of therapy and lucid dreaming techniques; “They gained control, now they have a tool to take home with them,” she said. “Lucid dreaming might not take nightmares away but can help change them,” she added, “Lucid dreaming is an effort. You have to be motivated to do it. It’s a very potent and powerful tool, but it doesn’t change you into another person. Lucid dreaming is one tool, one way to enhance your dream life ... ”