Sleep Difficulty and Insomnia

Sleep Difficulty and Insomnia

Are you having trouble sleeping at night? Do you have difficulty falling asleep - tossing and turning in bed for over 20 minutes before you finally getting some shuteye? Or maybe you wake up during the night and have a hard time falling back to sleep. In many cases, sleep difficulties and insomnia symptoms are treatable with an evidence based therapy called CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy- Insomnia). CBT-I is a structured program that helps you identify and replace thoughts and behaviors that cause or worsen sleep problems with habits that promote sound sleep. The behavioral aspects of CBT-I help you develop good sleep habits and avoid behaviors that keep you from falling and staying asleep. The cognitive part of CBT-I teaches you to recognize and change beliefs that affect your ability to sleep. This type of therapy can help you control or eliminate negative thoughts and worries that keep you awake. CBT-I is usually implemented in 6-8 sixty minute sessions and may be used as stand alone therapy or during the course of ongoing therapy. During the course of CBT-I we will:

• Evaluate your current sleep routine looking for specific behaviors that may be affecting your ability to fall and stay asleep

• learn about sleep hygiene and tools you can use to improve relaxation and prime your body and mind for sleep

• look at thoughts you might be having while trying to fall asleep and learn ways to modify those thoughts to reduce worry

Sleep is vital to a healthy life. If you are having difficulty sleeping, please reach out for help.