Everyone experiences sleep difficulties from time to time, but insomnia is a chronic sleep disorder. Left untreated, insomnia can affect your emotional resilience, physical health, and day-to-day functioning. Research shows that insomnia predicts the development of depression, anxiety, PTSD after trauma, and substance use disorders. It also increases the risk of suicide and relapse in both depression and substance recovery.
​Common Symptoms
Symptoms of insomnia may include difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking too early despite having enough opportunity to sleep. When this happens regularly, it can make daily life more challenging, affecting focus, energy, and mood. Symptoms typically occur at least 3 nights per week and persists more than 3 months.
​​​​Treatment Approach​
I offer Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), the gold standard for treating insomnia. It’s a structured, short-term therapy that can typically be completed in just four sessions (or over about two months), following an initial evaluation. CBT-I begins with keeping a sleep diary to create a clear picture of your current sleep patterns. From there, we explore how sleep works, including the two biological systems that influence it and the three factors that often contribute to insomnia. Treatment includes strategies to help you reconnect your bed with sleep, improve the quality of your sleep, and gently shift any unhelpful thoughts that may be keeping you awake.
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Common Questions
Why can't I sleep when I am absolutely exhausted?
This is one of the most frustrating parts of insomnia. Sleep is governed by a balance between your sleep drive (your body's pressure to sleep), your body clock (your body's chemical alerting system), and your arousal system (how safe your body feels). When these three systems are out of sync, it becomes difficult to fall asleep, even when you feel tired.
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Do I need to be off sleep medication to start CBT-I?
Not at all. Many people seek support while currently using sleep aids. My goal is to collaborate with you to strengthen your body's natural ability to sleep. As your sleep system finds a more stable rhythm and your confidence in your own sleep grows, you can work with your prescribing physician to discuss if and when it's appropriate to adjust your medication. Any changes to your prescription should always be made under your doctor's guidance and never on your own. I encourage you to keep your healthcare provider informed about your progress so they can help you make safe decisions about any medication changes.
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How is CBT-I different from practicing good sleep hygiene?
While things like keeping a cool, dark room are helpful for healthy sleepers, sleep hygiene alone is not helpful for people with chronic insomnia. As a CBT-I certified provider, I use evidence-based techniques that focus on the three biological pillars of sleep: increasing sleep drive, regulating your body clock, and reducing arousal. For example, one CBT-I technique is stimulus control, which trains your mind and body to associate the bed with sleep and relaxation only. This means getting up if you cannot fall asleep within about 20 minutes, and only returning to bed when you feel sleepy. Techniques like this help reestablish healthy patterns and make it easier to fall and stay asleep.
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I’ve struggled with sleep for so long; have I permanently lost the ability to sleep?
It is very common to feel like your "sleep switch" is broken, but sleep is a biological drive, not a skill you can lose. If you aren't sleeping, it isn't a failure on your part. It usually means that conditions haven't been optimized to allow your natural sleep drive to take over. My role is to help you make the necessary changes to invite sleepiness back.
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I’m exhausted, so why does my brain start racing the moment I lie down in bed?
This is incredibly common for caregivers. When you spend your entire day tending to the needs of others, your brain often views the quiet of the night as its only opportunity to process information, plan ahead, or even just exist without interruption. Your nervous system may not have been given the proper off-ramp to transition from the high-stress demands of the day into a state of rest. We work together to optimize your environment and routines, so your brain has time to wind down, meeting its needs without stealing your sleep.
Ready to take one small step forward?
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​​If you have any questions or want to learn more about my treatment approach, contact me for a free 15-minute phone consultation. It’s a chance for us to connect and see if we’re a good fit.