Sure, Inception, Dreamscape, The Lathe of Heaven or any of a number of sci-fi flicks that explore harnessing the dream state are entertaining—but are they healing?
A recent study led by Dr. Garret Yount, a molecular neurobiologist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), which is perched over the border of Sonoma and Marin counties, points to the potential of healing minds while sleeping.
Yount’s research explored the potential of lucid dreaming—a state in which a person becomes aware of dreaming and can actively engage with the dream—as an alternative therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“I’ve always wanted to do research in dreaming since I was a kid,” Yount said. “And then as an adult was working with PTSD alternative therapies to help them and came across this combination. So, I was excited to explore that.”
The study involved a six-day lucid dreaming workshop providing 22 hours of live instruction and group activities via video conferencing. About half of all participants, including those in a control group, experienced at least one lucid dream. Among those who did, 63% of workshop participants reported achieving a “healing lucid dream,” compared to 38% of the controls.
Workshop participants reported significant reductions in PTSD symptoms and nightmare distress, with improvements persisting at a one-month follow-up. Increased well-being and diminished negative emotions were also noted.
“A lucid dream is a dream in which waking consciousness awakens inside the dreamscape,” Yount explained. “So the waking consciousness that we’re using right now to talk to each other just kind of wakes up inside the dreamscape. Realization occurs that dreaming is happening, and in that state, it becomes possible to interact with the scenario.”
The therapeutic goal is not controlling the dream but participating in it consciously, particularly when confronting symbolic representations of trauma.
“You encounter a monster in the dream, and instead of running from it, embrace it, turn to it, somehow ask to integrate with it,” Yount said.
In one of his own lucid dreams, Yount recounted becoming aware of a ghoul pursuing him. Remembering his training, he chose not to flee but instead addressed the figure: What can you teach me? he asked. The figure promptly shrank into a younger version of himself, leading to what he described as “an amazing healing lucid dream.”
For individuals coping with PTSD—whether veterans, survivors of abuse or others facing traumatic memories—this type of symbolic engagement can offer real relief.
The study also suggests lucid dreaming might replicate some of the neurochemical effects of medications commonly prescribed for PTSD.
“Many of the medicines are dampening neurotransmitters, which is part of the symptoms of stress in the brain,” Yount noted. “During rapid eye movement sleep, the neurotransmitters are dampened also. So it’s kind of like mimicking the conditions that the meds are trying to reach.”
In this unique state, traumatic memories can be recalled without triggering stress hormones, allowing for a kind of reprogramming. “Whether the dreamer embraces the monster or simply observes a recurring scene and acknowledges, ‘I’m OK; I’m going to be OK,’ the process becomes a kind of self-hypnosis,” Yount said.
Lucid dreaming offers a relatively low-cost and accessible approach to trauma therapy. While some achieve lucidity naturally, others can learn induction techniques like those taught in the study’s workshop. Even participants who did not consistently reach lucidity reported therapeutic benefits.
“Just doing this ‘dream thinking’ about dreaming—and realizing trauma can be transformed in dreams—seems to work even if lucidity is not achieved,” said Yount.
The findings point to a fascinating frontier in the science of sleep and the potential of the dreaming mind—not a fantasy, but an emerging therapeutic reality.
For more information on the work at IONS, visit noetic.org.
