Negotiation of Nightmares

Negotiation with Nigh tmar es
The Healing Potential in Narcolepsy
Rubin Naiman, PhD
Director, Circadian Health Associates
Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine
Center for Integrative Medicine
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
I. What is REM / dreaming?
Mediates learning and memory
Digests / assimilates experience
Key role in psychological healing
We become paralyzed in REM sleep
Dreaming “disembodies” us
REM sleep heals moods & feelings
Dreaming is primarily receptive
What is waking?
• Waking is framed by sensory
input and motor output
• Waking is informed by intention
• Intention determines perception
• The brain sees by blocking
• Waking defines meaning
The continuity of consciousness
What is dreaming?
Dreaming is waking that is not
contained or constrained by
somatic sensory and motor
experience. It is primarily
informed by receptivity.
What is waking?
Waking is dreaming that is
defined, framed and contained by
somatic sensory and motor
experience. It is primarily informed
by intention.
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Dreaming is expanded c o n s c i o u s n e s s
The language of God...
Dreaming as a way of seeing...
An unconditional sense of
meaning...
The range of what we think, do...
Things are not what they seem;
nor are they otherwise.
-- Surangama Sutra
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A n e p i d e m i c o f REM sleep suppression
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excessive alcohol
hypnotics: TCAs, benzos
most antidepressants
anticholinergic burden
LAN suppression of MT
obstructive sleep apnea
middle insomnias
alarm clock awakenings
dismissive posture
most dreams are “bad”
Kryger MH, Roth T, Dement WC, eds. Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine. Philadelphia,
Pa: Elsevier Saunders; 2005.
Naiman, RR. Healing Night: Syren, 2006.
Rebounding REM:
Depression as a “loss of one’s dreams”
Selective REM deprivation results in a rebound
Damaged dreams & decreased deep/delta sleep
Increased daytime sleepiness, dreaminess, fatigue
Symptoms of depression & sleepiness overlap
Depression: limbic zone between wake & sleep
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why we turn away from our
dreams....
What dreaming does is give
us the fluidity to enter into
other worlds by destroying
our sense of knowing
this world.
-- Carlos Castaneda
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Kinds of nightmares
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Historical views
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Night terrors
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REM sleep behavior disorder
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Bad dreams
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Episodic nightmares
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Post-traumatic nightmares
n
Hypnagogic hallucinations
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THE VERGE:
awakening from nightmares
Overcoming Nightmares with lucid dreaming
Stephen LaBerge
“I was escaping down the side of a skyscraper, climbing like a lizard. It occurred to me that I could better escape by <lying away, and as I did so, I realized that I was dreaming. By the time I reached the ground, the dream and my lucidity faded. The next thing I knew I was sitting in the audience of a lecture hall, privileged to be hearing Idries Shah (an eminent Su<i teacher) comment on my dream. "It was good that Stephen realized he was dreaming and could <ly," Shah observed with a bemused tone, "but unfortunate that he didn't see that since it was a dream, there was no need to escape." I would have had to be deaf not to get the message. After
this dream lecture, I resolved to never use my lucidity to
avoid unpleasant situations.
Lucidity reminds us we are dreaming — waking world rules don't apply. Basic approach: 1) remember it’s a dream and therefore harmless, 2) adopt an attitude of intrepid curiosity, and 3) relax and go with the experience.
S. LaBerge & H. Rheingold, (1990). Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming.. Ch. 10; New York: Ballantine.
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Shadow: our fear of the dream
All we wish not
to be
Find diamonds
in coal
Opening the
heart nightmare
Sweetness &
light vs. Tonglen
Henry Fuseli, The Nightmare 1782
We do not become enlightened by pursuing images of light,
but by bringing awareness into the dark. --Carl Jung
Jesus & the
Demons
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II. Treating nightmares
1. Pharmacological
2. Psychotherapeutic
3. CBT: Rescripting
4. Community support*
In the deepest sense, we all dream not out of ourselves but
out of what lies between us and the other. -- Carl Jung
Davis, JL, Treating Post-Trauma Nightmares, Springer: 2009.
Levine, PA, In an Unspoken Voice, North Atlantic Books: 2010.
Therapeutic use of dreams for trauma survivors
A MINI-COURSE FOR
CLINICIANS AND
TRAUMA WORKERS
ON POST-TRAUMATIC
NIGHTMARES
Alan Siegel, PhD
www.dreamwisdom.info
1) Encourage verbalization and
exploration of post-trauma dreams.
2) Welcome, reassure, witness,
empathize with the emotions of the
trauma survivor’s dreams.
3) Help the dreamer break the spell of
the nightmares.
4) Point out the normality of intermittent
nightmares.
5) Take an inventory of previous losses
and traumas.
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Conciliatory dialoging with dark dream characters
1. Practice imaginary dialogs in the waking state.
2. Set intention to be lucid and dialogic.
3. Dialog with problem dream figures.
4. Evaluate the dialog.
A conciliatory approach is most likely to result in a positive experience.
Engage in dialogs with dream characters; treat dream figures as your equal.
A conciliatory approach causes threatening figures to look and act more friendly
"Who are you?" "Who am I?" ”Why are you here?" "Why are you acting the way
you are?" "What do you have to tell me?" "Why is such-and-such happening in this
dream?" "What do you think or feel about such and such?" "What do you want from
me? What do you want me to do?" "What questions would you ask of me?" "What
do I most need to know?" "Can you help me?" "Can I help you?"
- P. Tholey, "A Model of Lucidity Training as a Means of Self- Healing and Psychological Growth," in Conscious
Mind, Sleeping Brain, eds. J. Gackenbach and S. LaBerge (New York: Plenum, 1988), 263-287.
- S. Kaplan-Williams, The Jungian-Senoi Dreamwork Manual (Berkeley, Calif.: Journey Press, 1985)
- S. LaBerge & H. Rheingold, (1990). Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming. Ch. 10; New York: Ballantine.
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Invoking Asklepios
1. Lessons from Asclepian healing;1000 year old tradition; roots of modern medicine and psychotherapy 2. In ‘temple sleep’ or ‘incubation,’ the dream was honored, invoked, encouraged, approached with deep regard; Incubation involves a daring act of trust in the unknown. 3. Cultivate courage, humility, and surrender to a power even higher than the Commander in Chief
Tick, E. The Practice of Dream Healing, Quest 2001.
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D re a m w o r k
Dream interpretation:
The report of the dream isn’t it;
Dream dictionaries: its all that; Projective approach: its all me;
The error of interpretation:
As it is below, so is it above;
‘Royal road’ or actual territory; Transpersonal approaches:
It’s the space between us
Knowing meaning of a dream vs. knowing dreaming is meaningful
A dream unexamined is like a letter unopened. —the Talmud
1. To dream well, sleep well
2. Be cognizant of suppressive factors
Promoting REM dreams
3. Practice mindful morning awakenings
4. Consider melatonin replacement tx
5. Avoid reductionistic dreamwork
6. Potentiate with supplements:
http://www.erowid.org
7. Keep dream & wake-dream journals
8. Establish a dialog with your shadow
9. Join a community dream circle
10. Consider sandplay therapy
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Rubin Naiman is truly a pioneer in
integrative sleep & dream medicine.
-- Andrew Weil, MD
HUSH draws on the latest sleep
science to take us deeper, exploring
sleep’s spiritual, sacred, transformative dimensions and guiding us
toward the deep, restorative sleep our
bodies and souls need.
-- Arianna Huffington
The best prescription for our
sleepless patients.
-- Randy Horwitz, MD, PhD
www.DrNaiman.com