RISC method

The premise of the RISC dream therapy is straightforward: If bad dream scripts make you awaken discouraged and downhearted, rewriting the scripts to improve the endings should lead to better moods.

This method of dream therapy has just four steps that you can learn on your own:

Recognise when you are having a bad dream, the kind that leaves you feeling helpless, guilty, or upset the next morning. You need to become aware while you are dreaming that the dream is not going well.

Identify what it is about the dream that makes you feel bad. Locate the dimensions that portray you in a negative light – as, for example, weak rather than strong, inept rather than capable, or out-of-control rather than in control.

Stop any bad dream. You do not have to let it continue. You are in charge. Most people are surprised to find that telling themselves to recognise when a bad dream is in progress is often all it takes to empower them to stop such dreams.

Change negative dream dimensions into their opposite, positive sides. At first, you may need to wake up and devise a new conclusion before returning to sleep. With practice, you will be able to instruct yourself to change the action while remaining asleep.

Quoted from Psychology Today, Nov-Dec 1992, Excerpt from Crisis Dreaming: Using Your Dreams to Solve Your Problems. Authors: Cartwright, Rosalind; Lamberg, Lynne. Accessed via CompuServe.