It is quite common, I think. Consider how hypnosis works--why it works--and you will see the obvious connection (which can be used benevolently or abused).
One "genius" way dreams work is to give us the space, a "safe spot", to process things that in our waking lives would cause too much anxiety. It is a small-dose-over-time method that helps people remember/realize/cope in a gradual-healing/healthy way that boosts their life growth rather than detracting (which can show up as trauma-scars, like residual proof that the process was "coped with" incorrectly).
I've had a specific recurring dream (which I fictionalized in my novel to illustrate a point about openness and acceptance) that highlighted and then soothed/eased a "fear" I didn't even realize I had. The dream repeated 3 times in heart-pounding fashion until I worked through what it meant and accepted-welcomed it, and then...done. With the dream purpose fulfilled, it stopped and hasn't returned since (almost a decade later). So, I can point to that as one of my most obvious personal examples of growth--of perspective expanding that can only be done with the right level of openness--that added to my abilities without leaving any scarring or otherwise nasty residue. And it was the dream (series) that prompted the growth-stimuli.
(And yes, it was multi-layered to me, which I suspect is more in the "eye of the dreamer" than being an infrequent aspect of it; like, it's always there but we don't always notice it.)
