CBT for insomnia is the recommended first-line treatment for chronic sleep problems. Online sessions to rebuild your sleep without dependence on pills.
You do not need to identify with all of these. Even a few is reason enough to talk to someone.
Insomnia typically starts with a trigger — stress, illness, a new baby, a shift change — and then becomes self-sustaining. Spending more time in bed to compensate weakens the association between bed and sleep. Anxiety about not sleeping raises arousal precisely when you need it lowest. The result is a learned pattern that continues long after the original stressor is resolved. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia targets exactly these maintaining factors, and is recommended internationally as the first-line treatment ahead of medication.
What the work actually involves, session by session.
Two weeks of tracking usually reveals a pattern you had not noticed — and gives us a baseline to measure against.
Counter-intuitively, we often reduce time in bed at first to rebuild sleep pressure and re-associate bed with sleep. It is demanding for a fortnight and then it works.
Structured worry time, cognitive defusion and wind-down routines address the 3am thought spiral directly.
Where relevant, and always in coordination with your prescribing doctor, CBT-I supports a gradual, safe taper.
Book a short exploratory call. No commitment — just a conversation to work out what would help.
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