Reclaiming the Night: How Lucid Dreaming Helped Me Face PTSD

For many people, sleep is a sanctuary. For others—like me—it's the battlefield.

Living with PTSD means my nights are often filled with intense nightmares, pulling me back into memories I’ve worked hard to process. There were years when the idea of falling asleep filled me with dread. But something unexpected happened along the way: I began to take control of those dreams.

They call it lucid dreaming—the moment in a dream when you realize you’re dreaming. That awareness can change everything. What started as terrifying sequences I couldn’t escape slowly became opportunities for healing.

In a lucid dream, I could shift the narrative. Instead of reliving the same trauma, I could insert an ally. I could walk away. I could breathe.

Lucid dreaming didn’t erase my PTSD, but it gave me back something I’d lost: agency. The ability to shape my internal world, even when my external world felt chaotic. It taught me that healing isn’t just about what happens during the day. It’s about what we reclaim in the night, too.

For anyone facing similar struggles, know this: there are tools. There are practices. There is hope.

And sometimes, that hope begins in the unlikeliest of places—like a dream.

- James Havel Jr.
Founder, The Rolla House LLC