Symptoms of insomnia or sleep disorders

  • Having trouble falling asleep

  • Waking up frequently during the night

  • Waking up earlier than wanted, difficulty falling back asleep

  • Feeling exhausted during the day

  • Dread bedtime, anticipatory anxiety or frustration about a poor night’s sleep

  • Persistent drowsiness despite sleeping or napping

  • Poor sleep affecting your work performance or personal life

  • Trouble concentrating

  • Abnormal behaviors during sleep (e.g., sleepwalking, night terrors)

  • Can’t sleep without a sleep aid (e.g., Ambien, a drink, marijuana)

  • Sleep difficulty isn’t otherwise explained by a medical condition, substance use, etc.

While it’s common to have some nights of bad sleep, if you are experiencing poor sleep multiple times a week over the span of months, you may have insomnia or a sleep disorder. The good news is that you don’t have to keep tossing and turning at night - research shows that insomnia is very treatable through therapy and with professional support.

Sleep is one of the most productive things you do

Sleep is important - not only can we not live without sleep, it remains a primary correlate to our general wellbeing over the lifespan. While people can spend up to one-third of their lives sleeping, many factors related to our modern life get in the way of quality sleep or the amount we get - thereby waylaying one of the best, consistent ways for us to take care of ourselves. If you have ever experienced insomnia or trouble sleeping - you know how quickly it can throw a wrench into your daily life.

In a world that often prizes productivity and efficiency you can point to, sleep can seem like a pretty unproductive and inefficient way of spending your nights. Or you are seen as “lazy” if you love to sleep and rest. Yet sleep supports everything - from regulating brain health, hunger, reproductive health, and your immune system response - to promoting memory consolidation, learning, emotional processing, and mood. Quality sleep improves our ability to problem solve, be productive, and manage stress. When we look at it this way, sleep is one of the most productive things we do! While there are countless ways to boost your physical and emotional wellbeing - if you’re not sleeping well - prioritizing your sleep is a great place to start. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and National Sleep Foundation recommend 7-9 hours of sleep each night for adults. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), about one third of adults in the US are not getting enough sleep.

A multicultural note: sleep health disparities

While it seems like quality sleep should be something that is equally available to all, the truth is that for many reasons this is not the case. Even though we can each choose to prioritize sleep, a number of variables outside of your control can significantly and negatively affect the quality and amount of sleep possible. Sadly, many of the key environmental variables that promote quality sleep are associated with privilege, and not a fundamental right.

Being able to have a comfortable, private, temperature stable bedroom free of ambient noise, light, and disruptions - in a safe neighborhood - is not a given. Childcare schedules or employment requiring shift work or variable late night hours make choosing consistent sleep and wake times unrealistic, let alone presuming one can have consecutive hours of sleep. For many, simply fulfilling their daily work and family responsibilities means being awake when their bodies should be sleeping. A lack of childcare help or having a job outside of standard business hours means that many of the risk factors for poor sleep fall disproportionately on underresourced individuals and communities of color with less means. We also know that chronic stress is a primary reason for sleeplessness - meaning that those already disadvantaged by inequity and systemic stressors are also the ones likely to suffer the strongest health consequences of ongoing poor sleep.

“Working with a psychologist trained in behavioral sleep medicine will help you assess the root causes of your poor sleep and make targeted changes that turn the corner on sleepless nights and weeks. ”

How can insomnia therapy help me?

It may seem like sleeping should come naturally, but it takes effort to sleep well. If you’ve been struggling with insomnia or gotten frustrated trying to improve things on your own - seeking professional support can make a world of difference.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for insomnia

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, or CBT-I is a first-line treatment for chronic insomnia. CBT-I is short-term, solution-oriented, and skills-based in order to help you create new patterns in a relatively short period of time. It does not require medication and can be sustainable long-term.

Work with an insomnia psychologist

Working with a psychologist trained in behavioral sleep medicine will help you assess the root causes of your poor sleep and make targeted changes that turn the corner on sleepless nights and weeks. This can look like learning about how sleep works and the factors that actually encourage healthy sleep patterns or reset internal rhythms. It can also mean overcoming personal obstacles, like the tendency to ruminate at bedtime or changing old habits that may not have been consequential to your sleep before, but are now.

A sleep psychologist can provide a comprehensive evaluation and assist in clarifying if there’s anything more underlying your sleep concerns. Knowing whether or not there may be medical reasons for disrupted sleep can give you much needed answers and significantly change what the next steps for you should be.

If you have a more complex sleep disorder, a professional opinion is important to determine what’s the best and healthiest course of treatment. Experiencing anxiety, loss, relationship stress, or a new life transition (e.g., new parenthood) may also worsen sleep for a period of time. In this case, seeking a sleep psychologist can be incredibly beneficial because you can increase awareness of the psychological factors at play and come up with personalized sleep strategies tailored for your situation. Together, you can practice skills that strengthen your emotional wellbeing during the day so you can sleep at night.

Sleep Therapy in Manhattan, NY

Like it or not, sometimes we need to learn how to sleep well - or we need to learn about healthy adjustments we can make so some sleep is achievable in a unique stage of life. It often takes an honest appraisal of obstacles and consistent effort to set up our lives (and environments) in a way that encourage good habits and restorative sleep.

It can feel incredibly lonely to be up late at night, tossing and turning when it feels like the rest of the world is sleeping. Or it can feel like your body and your mind simply won’t cooperate and let you rest. We encourage you to reach out for support - we would love to connect with you and answer your questions. Poor sleep often means feeling constantly fatigued and not at your best - so everything feels much harder and more overwhelming. With therapy, you do not need to struggle alone - rediscover what it means to experience rest, renewed energy, and readiness for the next day.

 

Common questions about therapy for sleep

 

  • While our bodies often reset and recover from poor sleep when given the chance, sometimes the reasons for sleep disruption can be more complicated - making a professional perspective incredibly beneficial. If you have been struggling with poor sleep more days than not during the week for more than three months - we recommend that you reach out.

  • The first step is scheduling a sleep consultation, which is a comprehensive, 75 minute evaluation with a sleep psychologist. Prior to meeting, you will be asked to track your sleep for at least one week using sleep diaries and you will also complete a sleep background form so we can provide a comprehensive and personalized consultation. Your sleep consultation includes a complete review of your most recent sleep data, an assessment of medical history, psychiatric history, recent stressors, sleep practices and any medications or supplements you use for sleep. Additionally, if you are comfortable with sharing your sleep environment, meeting via telehealth provides an opportunity to examine your sleeping environment in detail during the consultation. After meeting, you will receive an outline of sleep treatment tailored to you and aimed at increasing quality sleep. You can also discuss any questions you may have about whether or not CBT-I is right for you.

  • CBT-I is very brief - often somewhere between 4-8 sessions, but it can be shorter or longer depending on the person and the nature of their sleep concerns. Since many of the interventions are focused, behavioral, and strategic - experiencing progress relatively quickly can be common. If your sleep improves in as few as two sessions, great! You are not locked into a specific number of sessions and treatment can wrap up as soon as you are satisfied with your progress.

  • While there are specific recommendations as a part of CBT-I, your treatment will always be tailored to you and stem from an ongoing, collaborative conversation. We will always prioritize your needs, pace, and goals.