I know a few (well-informed) PTSD-focused psychologists whose judgment I would definitely trust and who offer it. My understanding is the evidence base behind it is at least decent.
Done it a bunch of times, trained at the VA and my do it in my PP. Anecdotal of course, but I’ve found it incredibly effective each time (as in, one pt with nightmares 4x-6x week for 20 years, after IR having total remission of nightmares and normal sleep for the first time in 20 yrs, after IR no recurrence of the nightmares for the remaining couple months I saw her).
Yes very effective and really the best treatment for recurrent nightmares that I have found - although the causes are often multifactorial and medical work-up is often needed to ensure there is nothing else going on to explain symptom frequency (e.g., untreated sleep apnea). There's plenty of evidence RE: effectiveness of IRT, but there is less consensus on mechanisms underlying symptom improvement (e.g., exposure to the feared content, mastery over aspects of the experience of dreaming). For that reason there is no 100% agreed-upon protocol for IRT or what specific treatment components need to be included.
