You might be wondering how a “talk therapy” can help treat insomnia. Do we talk until you’re so bored you fall asleep? Not at all!
CBT-I (cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia) is the first line treatment recommended for insomnia by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the American College of Physicians, Consumer Reports, The Lancet, the National Institutes of Health and more. Hundreds of studies have found it to be safe and effective, with 75-80% having improved sleep after treatment. The thing about chronic insomnia is that the circumstances or events which create acute insomnia initially are not what sustains it as it becomes chronic. In fact, chronic insomnia is driven by the two components in the name of the therapy: the cognitive and the behavioral. That is, what a person thinks or believes about sleep and insomnia and what they do in an effort to deal with their insomnia generally are the very things which keep insomnia going. That’s good news, in an odd way, because this means that the insomnia will begin to dissipate as you change those thoughts/beliefs and behaviors. The therapy is focused on addressing the anxiety often involved with insomnia and the behaviors which perpetuate the insomnia. The therapy is present-focused and generally the only time the issue of someone’s childhood might come up is if the person reports that they had sleep problems as a kid, too.
If you struggle with insomnia or want to get off the sleeping pills you use every night, call/ text me at (816) 226-4678. You CAN have a restful night of sleep without struggle and without drugs.
