For me, I try to do some fact checking.

Where was I in the nightmare when I woke up? Now I am in my bed.

Is what was happening in the nightmare plausible? For example, zombies or werewolves... flying people or some other things that don't seem to mesh with reality.

Who was with me in the nightmare? Are they with me now, or are they somewhere else?

Also, trying to write down as much of the nightmare as I can, in a dream journal, has helped. While the nightmare is fresh, it seems more real and scarier, but after writing it down, I would go smoke a cigarette or do something else to distract myself like progressive muscle relaxation. Later, when I would read over what I wrote, it would almost always be obviously unrealistic.

That's just some of what I would do... I now take medicine for night terrors, so even though I may wake with a frightened feeling, I never remember the nightmare anymore...

Puck