Insomnia therapy
disorder therapy explained
We all have nights where we find it difficult to fall asleep and keep waking in the night. For most these nights are in the minority and don’t have much of an affect on your everyday life. These odd occasions generally resolve themselves but for those that really struggle with sleep it can affect every minute of your day and night.
Long stretches of bad sleep can cause extreme tiredness and make usually manageable tasks seem overwhelming. Lack of sleep can majorly affect your mental health and wellbeing leading to problems such as depression and anxiety.
Sleep is essential to good psychological and physical health and how much we sleep is different for us all and can change as we get older. If you have difficulty falling asleep, wake up multiple times at night or experience tiredness during the day even after long periods of sleep then sleep therapy will prove highly beneficial for you.
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Insomnia in more detail
Insomnia means you regularly have problems sleeping, getting to sleep, or staying asleep. Insomnia and other sleep-related issues can be caused by or symptomatic of other serious issues, such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders. That is why we take an integrated approach, blending scientifically-proven therapies to develop the most effective solution for you.
Symptoms of insomnia
If you are experiencing a number of the symptoms and signs below regularly, then you are suffering from insomnia. We can help.
● Finding it difficult to fall asleep
● Waking during the night
● Lying awake for long periods
● Waking early and unable to get back to sleep
● Having a low mood or feeling down
● Poor concentration
● Irritability
● Waking up feeling tired and not rested
Our approach to insomnia therapy and sleep disorders
We believe that therapy and counselling are an effective treatment for insomnia. The use of insomnia counselling helps to target both the symptoms and the root cause behind your sleep problems.
We will work with you to identify environmental and behavioural factors which may affect your sleep quality. Through insomnia therapy, we explore distorted thinking patterns which contribute to the surrounding anxieties exacerbating the problem. We teach you the skills and techniques to adjust your routines, thoughts and behaviours so that you can achieve a better night’s sleep.
We know that ‘one size doesn’t fit all’ and that each of our clients is different and has their own set of unique needs and circumstances. Typically, we will use a combination of therapies in our treatment of sleep disorders; these include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and hypnotherapy alongside talking therapies such as counselling and psychotherapy.
Client success stories
Hypnotherapy for insomnia
Hypnotherapy can have a positive effect for people who are struggling with insomnia and sleep-related issues. Through hypnosis we can teach you simple alternatives of how to manage your sleep, creating positive behaviours that will help resolve your sleep issues.
Changing your behaviour will change how you feel about sleep, yourself and how you interact with those closest to you, and the world in general. By looking at the root cause, symptoms and triggers we can transform your sleep habits and, in turn, how you interact with the world around you.
What is hypnotherapy?
We actually experience hypnosis all the time naturally. Daydreaming is a form of hypnosis, for example. Similarly, when we arrive at a destination in our car without being aware of how we got there. That’s a form of hypnosis too. We drift in and out of the state all the time.
All we really do with this form of treatment is harness that state to create a form of deep relaxation that enables us to access parts of the brain that are blocked by conscious thought.
By altering your state of consciousness, through the use of hypnosis and positive suggestion, we can help you to change aspects of yourself – for example your behaviour or your feelings.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for insomnia
CBT has good results when applied to someone suffering from a sleep disorder. Using cognitive therapy, your therapist can help you to tackle negative thought patterns you may direct at yourself or that you perceive from the world around you. By changing these negative thought patterns you can begin to resolve your sleep issues.
After you have recognised these negative thoughts and when they occur, you can work to replace them with something more rational and positive which will allow you to cope with your sleep disorder in a calm and controlled manner.
What is CBT?
CBT is a way to rewire the software of your brain, rehearsing troubling situations in your mind in order to create alternative ways of thinking when that situation arises again. In effect, you’re creating new mental circuitry by challenging and changing old responses that feel hardwired in, but aren’t.
With CBT, the therapist acknowledges that there may be behaviours that you cannot control through rational thought. Rather, these harmful coping strategies are as a result of prior conditioning from the environment and other internal or external stimuli.
By taking (what can feel like) insurmountable tasks and teaching you how to apply a pragmatic and objective viewpoint to these issues, CBT gradually changes the way you look at everyday challenges.
A sleep disorder therapy case study
Jennifer had always had problems sleeping. The situation worsened as she got older, with serious implications for her health and her performance at work.
Hypnotherapy was recommended in her case and, during hypnosis, she accessed a very distressing early memory of being permanently separated from her twin brother at bedtime.
After just three sessions, Jennifer was able to fall asleep much more easily by using a series of visualisations to re-programme these negative thoughts.
What can you expect from a sleep therapy session?
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