Getting good sleep is critical to our physical and emotional health, so when we’re not getting enough it can have devastating effects. But you don’t have to keep suffering or taking sleep medication forever! Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is an effective treatment that can help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep, and be more rested during the day.
CBT-I is a short, structured, evidence-based approach to combat the frustrating symptoms of insomnia and sleeplessness; it aims to help you break old habits and patterns that interfere with sleep and replace them with new approaches that bring on sleep naturally.
Treatment using CBT-I focuses on exploring the connection between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to sleep while building skills and applying tools to manage your mind around sleep.
Treatment often takes from 6-8 sessions.
CBT-I is a collaborative process and the skills learned in sessions require practice. Homework is a common component of treatment. Assignments in between sessions often include keeping a sleep diary, practicing questioning automatic thoughts or beliefs when they arise, and improving sleep hygiene practices.
Is CBT-I Effective?
Research on CBT-I that combines cognitive, behavioral and educational techniques has shown that as many as 70% to 80% of patients with primary insomnia experience improvements. Benefits include less time to fall asleep, more time spent asleep, and waking up less during sleep
The American College of Physicians recommends that all adult patients receive CBT-I as a first-line approach for insomnia.
While this treatment is considered effective for many types of insomnia, it doesn’t always work right away. It can take time to learn and practice the skills learned in treatment.
*Research support for CBTi: https://mysleepwell.ca/cbti/cbti-research/
Does CBT-I Have Risks?
In order for CBT-I to be effective, it’s important to be open to confronting unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. While the risks of treatment are likely to be mild, it may be uncomfortable at times. Talking about painful experiences, thoughts, and feelings can be challenging and may cause temporary stress and discomfort.
Research shows CBT-I is effective for insomnia in people who have the following conditions:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- PTSD
- Psychosis
- Pain
- Multiple sclerosis
- Fibromyalgia
- Cancer
- Cancer survivors
- Pregnancy
- Menopause
- After menopause
- Taking sleeping pills
- Not taking sleeping pills
- Hearing impaired
- Adolescents
- Adults
- Older adults
CBT-i therapy is not recommended for people with certain health conditions, including bipolar disorder and epilepsy.