Treating Insomnia
We recognize how important sleep is for you to feel rested and function well during the day. Getting a good night's sleep is often not always as easy as we would like it to be. This happens for a wide range of reasons such as stress, health issues, or difficulty winding down before bed.
While people vary significantly in how they sleep, you may have insomnia if you often:
• Take longer than 20-30 minutes to fall asleep
• Are awake for more than 30 minutes during the night
• Feel unrefreshed when you wake in the morning
Psychological Sleep Services treats insomnia using a comprehensive approach called "cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia,” or CBT-I for short. CBT-I involves carefully evaluating your sleep concerns, working through your thoughts and attitudes about sleep, and targetting behaviors that negatively affect your sleep. CBT-I will teach you how to sleep again in your desired sleeping environment, and the skills you will learn will help you in the future if your insomnia symptoms come back.
MEDICATION FOR INSOMNIA: For some people, medications can be an effective treatment with tolerable side effects. However, for others medication may not be the best solution due to people being concerned about dependency, limited or diminishing effectiveness of medications over time, or side effects such as morning sedation or increased nighttime fall risk.
BENEFITS OF SEEING A BEHAVIORAL SLEEP SPECIALIST: CBT-I delivered by a behavioral sleep specialist such as Dr. Haraburda is significantly more effective than trying to follow a list of tips on sleeping better for the following important reasons.
Sleep Resources
While people vary significantly in how they sleep, you may have insomnia if you often:
• Take longer than 20-30 minutes to fall asleep
• Are awake for more than 30 minutes during the night
• Feel unrefreshed when you wake in the morning
Psychological Sleep Services treats insomnia using a comprehensive approach called "cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia,” or CBT-I for short. CBT-I involves carefully evaluating your sleep concerns, working through your thoughts and attitudes about sleep, and targetting behaviors that negatively affect your sleep. CBT-I will teach you how to sleep again in your desired sleeping environment, and the skills you will learn will help you in the future if your insomnia symptoms come back.
MEDICATION FOR INSOMNIA: For some people, medications can be an effective treatment with tolerable side effects. However, for others medication may not be the best solution due to people being concerned about dependency, limited or diminishing effectiveness of medications over time, or side effects such as morning sedation or increased nighttime fall risk.
BENEFITS OF SEEING A BEHAVIORAL SLEEP SPECIALIST: CBT-I delivered by a behavioral sleep specialist such as Dr. Haraburda is significantly more effective than trying to follow a list of tips on sleeping better for the following important reasons.
- You receive a thorough assessment of the many factors that contribute to unsatisfactory sleep.
- We will collaborate to develop a personalized plan to improve your sleep based on your unique circumstances. There is an art to tailoring recommendations to accomodate an individual's preferences, life schedule and home environment while maintaining their effectiveness.
- You will receive support in implementing changes by someone highly trained in behavioral change in general, and sleep in particular.
- If you wish to reduce or stop taking sleep medication, your prescribing provider can work with Dr. Haraburda to support this goal.
Sleep Resources
- Sleep 101 Handout
- Reviews processes that work together to promote sleep as well as wakefulness.
- Factors that can impact sleep.
- List healthcare professionals that can help with sleep issues.
- Explore Insomnia (National Institutes of Health (NIH) website) Accessed 6/24/21.
- What is insomnia? – overview
- Causes – physical/medical (including medications) or psychological reasons
- Who is at risk for insomnia? – lists some common reasons & mentions older adults are more likely to have insomnia
- Signs and symptoms of insomnia
- Diagnosis – overview of what you might be asked when you report sleep issues. Sleep center provider and behavioral sleep medicine professionals routinely perform thorough sleep assessments.
- Treatments – lifestyle changes, cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia, medications, over the counter products
- Other pages on website – sleep studies (needed to diagnose many sleep disorders but not necessary to diagnose insomnia)
- Insomnia treatment: Cognitive behavioral therapy instead of sleeping pills (Mayo Clinic website) Accessed 6/24/21.
- Thorough overview of this highly effective non-medication treatment for insomnia. Lists key components of approach and give suggestions on how to find providers.
- “Books, CDs or websites on cognitive behavioral therapy techniques and insomnia may be beneficial, but they can't replace meeting with a sleep medicine specialist in person.”
- CBT-I Coach app (app designed by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Stanford University Sleep Clinic)
- “This App is meant to be used in conjunction with face-to-face treatment for sleep difficulties with a health care professional. Some of the interventions can be used on its own with ease, but is not intended to replace therapy for those who need it.”
- To get to variety of relaxation exercises, select "Tools" and then select "Quiet your mind". If you scroll down this menu, you will find the following exercises: breathing tool, progressive muscle relaxation, 3 guided imagery exercises, thought observing and body scan.