The content of our dreams offers clues about the state of our nervous system. As we know from current research on recurrent dreams, these often depict being chased, feeling helpless or, if positive, represent ways of being socially engaged. Anyone familiar with the polyvagal theory will recognize these states as the some of the main expressions of different states of autonomic nervous system (ANS): being chased is fight/flight, helplessness is immobility and social engagement corresponds with the ventral vagal state the body enters when feeling safe.
A new wave of somatically-oriented trauma therapies has swept through the field of trauma treatment as a result of what we now know about the nervous system. I love that these new approaches view ANS responses as adaptive rather than pathological. I am also impressed at how neatly such constructs map onto dream content. Clinicians can use this information from dreams to inform diagnosis and treatment, and to map clinical progress. For example, when recurrent dreams change, this is can indicate clinical progress as it coincides with increased well-being.
My upcoming journal article, Solving the Nightmare Mystery: How Polyvagal Theory Updates Our Understanding of the Aetiology and Treatment of Nightmares, takes Porges’ polyvagal theory and the nervous system into account when considering the causes and treatment of nightmares; it is in the final stages of production for APA journal Dreaming. The article articulates both a theory and treatment approach that I will cover in more detail in my upcoming workshop on October 13 (participants will receive an advance copy). One of the practical take-aways is the matching of dream content with autonomic states. Here is an excerpt from my article:
“It is possible to map the hierarchy of threat responses onto the content of nightmares. Virtually all fear-based nightmares contain material that represents either an activated fight/flight response or a helpless immobilized response in the face of threat. A recent study to determine the main themes in nightmare content (n = 1216) points to a strong, though not perfect, correlation between most common nightmare themes and the polyvagal response hierarchy. In order, the most frequent nightmare themes identified by Schredl and Goritz (2018) were failure or helplessness (immobility), physical aggression (fight), accidents, being chased (flight), illness or death (immobility), and interpersonal conflict (fight).”
In my doctoral research, I conducted a related qualitative study (Ellis, 2016), looking at changes in recurrent nightmare content after treatment using a protocol that is a precursor to the Nightmare Relief protocol I now use and teach. The recurrent nightmares of study participants changed after treatment toward more empowered responses, moving up the polyvagal hierarchy of threat responses — from immobility to flight to fight. Also, the dreams that came after treatment began to weave in current settings and characters from the dreamer’s life shifting away from a focus in past trauma. The progression of dream content from replicative and recurrent toward dreams with strange twists and temporal anomalies (ie more normal dreaming) often coincides with trauma recovery.
Relevant to polyvagal theory, I also noticed that the dreams post-treatment tended to move toward greater social engagement: “When dreamers were asked to rescript their dream endings, they almost invariably imagined ‘home.’ The quality of home is similar to Porges’ ventral vagal state: not necessarily a literal place (especially for those whose actual homes were unsafe), but rather a sense of safety in the company of trusted others.” This is a clue about how to help with nightmares – assisting dreamers to reimagine their dreams in ways that feel safer can shift them, and reduce the aversion nightmare sufferers tend to have toward sleep and dreams.
In my upcoming seminar, I will present the most salient aspects of this material and focus mainly on introducing the Nightmare Relief protocol. I will be able to offer more detail, clinical examples, demos and experiential practices than are covered in the academic paper. I would like those who take this workshop to be able to put these ideas into practice right away with clients who suffer from nightmares and disturbing dreams.
To sum up, I have arrived at the idea that the nervous system is deeply implicated in nightmare suffering, and that using newer embodied trauma treatment methods that instill a sense of safety and connection are the starting points for treatment. I have incorporated what I learned in my doctoral research, and also what I have learned from existing evidence-based treatment to develop an individualized, embodied approach to treatment. This is described in my paper and upcoming workshop. I do hope you’ll join me.
Workshop: Nightmares and the Nervous System: How to treat disturbed dreaming
October 13, 9:30 to noon Pacific
LIVE online via Zoom, recording available to registrants
Cost: 140 (plus GST) = $147 USD