Blogs

Nightmares and Waking Life

February 5, 2013

Nightmares (during sleep) and flashbacks (during waking) are the hallmarks of PTSD.  Some people with PTSD are more troubled by nightmares, others by flashbacks.  Many people with PTSD are troubled by both.  Daytime “triggers” can…

Read More

Dreaming and PTSD

January 25, 2013

There are two current treatments for PTSD that involve dreams.  One treatment is dream revision, the focus of this website.  The other treatment is the anti-hypertensive medication, prazosin, which has been shown to block nightmares (as…

Read More

Seeing, Imagining, Dreaming

January 16, 2013

In our world of fancy high-tech gadgets (smart phones, laptop computers, ebooks, ipods, ipads) it’s interesting to reflect upon what a remarkable gadget our mind is, the most amazing gadget of all. First, there is our sense of…

Read More

Dreaming as a Parallel Universe

January 8, 2013

    There are various claims, both scientific and fictional, about “parallel universes”.  A parallel universe, of which there may be many, operates through different laws and has different natural phenomena than our usual universe,…

Read More

Newtown CT: Preventing Future Tragedies

January 2, 2013

Newtown, Connecticut is a town of population 25,000 located near Danbury, Connecticut, 75 miles northeast of New York City.  The population of Newtown is 95% white, with a mean family income of more than $100,000. On 12/14/12 Adam…

Read More

PTSD AND EMOTION

December 17, 2012

People with PTSD suffer from emotional dysregulation. They have trouble controlling their emotions. A Vietnam veteran patient of mine with combat-related PTSD once told me “we have no feelings, only emotions”. His comment makes…

Read More

Posttraumatic Art

December 10, 2012

    Recovery from PTSD requires that one address the trauma at some point.  Dream revision therapy, as described in earlier blogs, is a method for addressing trauma through posttraumatic dreams or nightmares.  If the dream is…

Read More

MEMORY, DREAMING, AND TRAUMA

November 13, 2012

Our everyday lives are filled with sensory information from the outside world and from our own motor behaviors. We can’t possibly remember everything we experience. Our brain helps us select new information worthy of remembering. Such…

Read More

Cognitive Dissonance, PTSD, and Control

October 31, 2012

Cognitive dissonance, first described in 1956 by Festinger, is a psychological state in which one holds two conflicting beliefs at the same time.  Most people are uncomfortable in this state of mind, and try to reduce the conflict,…

Read More

What is Trauma?

October 16, 2012

    In a medical sense, a trauma is a wound or injury to the body.  A trauma center is a place where such bodily injuries are treated.  People with severe injuries (from automobile accidents, explosions, fires, etc.) may be flown long…

Read More