Insomnia Treatment

CBT-I is a treatment that is directly based on sleep and circadian science, which is why it is so highly effective at addressing insomnia. At the beginning of treatment I will teach you many things about sleep, including how we sleep, why insomnia develops, and what contributes to high quality sleep. My goal is to help you become very knowledgable about sleep so that you understand the rationale behind CBT-I and the different components of the treatment. CBT-I asks quite a bit of clients, and I find that treatment is most effective when people understand the “why” behind the changes they are asked to make.

Treatment will involve you tracking a few data points about your sleep every morning after you wake up. You will track your data using a sleep diary that I will provide to you. Completing the sleep diary usually takes about ~2-5 minutes to complete each day and is very straightforward. You will continue to track your sleep each morning throughout the entire course of treatment - believe it or not, this is one of the most important parts of treatment! Your data helps me know how to personalize the treatment to fit your specific needs, and it also helps you and I monitor the efficacy of the treatment over time.

At the beginning of treatment I will ask you about your current sleep patterns and habits, including your typical sleep schedule, your pre-bedtime routine, and the things you do to help you sleep. Using this information and your sleep diary data, you and I will work together to begin addressing aspects of your sleep patterns and habits that may be contributing to your difficulties sleeping. This could include changing the time you go to sleep, the time you wake up, and/or making your schedule more consistent. I also might ask you to change some of the activities you do during the daytime or nighttime.

Throughout treatment, I will also be teaching you various skills and strategies that have been shown to support overall sleep quality. These skills include relaxation strategies that can help prepare the body for sleep (or help us fall back asleep). Other skills and strategies are designed to address thoughts that interfere with our sleep. Finally, you will also learn about ways to improve and maintain good sleep hygiene. The goal in CBT-I is to not only improve your sleep quality, but also to help you feel like you know how to implement core elements of the treatment even after therapy has ended!