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Nightmare Rescripting (IRT)

Imagery rehearsal therapy in a single page

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Imagery rehearsal therapy: write the nightmare as it happens, then rewrite the second half however you want. Rehearse the new version once a day, awake, in detail. The brain catches on.

1 · The nightmare, as it is
2 · The turning point

Pick a moment — early enough that the ending can change.

3 · The new version (from the turning point on)

Any direction. You can change scenery, add a person, change the outcome entirely. Sensory detail matters — sight, sound, smell.

Daily rehearsal

5–10 minutes, awake, eyes open or closed. Picture the new version in detail. Not the old one. Two to three weeks for most clients.

References & further reading

Conceptual background and further reading, not validation of this handout. Named instruments and methods belong to their original authors; custom prompts and trackers are not validated versions of those instruments.

  • Krakow, B., & Zadra, A. (2006). Clinical management of chronic nightmares: Imagery rehearsal therapy. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 4(1), 45–70.
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