Insomnia & Sleep Issues
Discover how hypnotherapy and CBT can help you to tackle insomnia and get your sleep routine back on track
All About Insomnia and Sleep
Do you find it difficult to fall asleep or do you keep waking up during the night? Do you lie in bed getting more and more stressed because you can’t sleep? Do you spend night after night tossing and turning, listening to the silence?
Insomnia can be described as a difficulty or inability to fall asleep or stay asleep during the night, which then results in interrupted sleep or a lack of restorative sleep. It’s often believed that we need 8 hours of sleep each night, however the actual amount required varies from person to person, depending on a variety of factors including age and lifestyle.
Insomnia can often be related to other common issues such as Anxiety or Stress, with the triggers differing for each person. Often, the cause is a counterproductive sleep routine, where we may have developed behaviours which make it difficult to fall and stay asleep.
Medication can be helpful as a short term solution, however many of the medications that are commonly prescribed can be addictive and whilst enabling you to fall asleep, do not address the underlying cause. The good news is that there are some changes that you can make on your own which will help you to get your sleep routine back on track.
Restore your natural sleep drive and get a good night's sleep
The Four Stages of Sleep
When we go to sleep, we actually pass through four stages in order to make the transition from being awake to being asleep.
Thinking
In this stage, we think about the events from the day and other everyday thoughts.
Fantasy
Our thoughts begin to slow down and turn to thoughts associated with relaxation.
Hypnoidal
As the mind and body relax, we enter a light stage of hypnosis and time distortion can occur.
Sleep
We are not consciously aware of what's happening around us due to the onset of sleep.
Therapy for Insomnia & Sleep
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBTi)
CBTi is an evidence based psychological method for addressing insomnia. The aim of CBTi is to improve sleep habits and responses by identifying and changing the thoughts and behaviours that affect your ability to sleep. CBTi is a structured process which consists of 3 main stages:
- Identifying and correcting inaccurate beliefs about sleep
- Restoring a natural sleep drive
- Developing effective relaxation strategies
The aim of CBTi is to enable you to restore your natural sleep routine whilst giving you the tools and strategies to help yourself in the future.
Hypnotherapy
Although the term Hypnosis comes from the Greek word Hypnos, meaning sleep, hypnosis is a natural psychological state of awareness which we all experience several times a day.
People who experience problems with falling asleep, often have difficulty in transitioning from the Thinking stage of the sleep process, to the Fantasy stage. Sometimes they remain in the Thinking stage for too long, when then causes them to fully re-awaken again. Hypnotherapy can help you to address this by teaching you relaxation techniques and enabling you to access the Fantasy and Hypnoidal stages more easily, therefore encouraging sleep to occur.
Therapy Sessions for Insomnia & Sleep Issues
Therapy sessions for Insomnia and Sleep issues combine Hypnotherapy with CBTi to help you identify the thoughts and behaviours which are causing your sleep problems, whilst enabling you to form new healthy sleep habits and regain control of your sleep patterns.
During your first session, we will discuss your sleep issues in more detail, whilst identifying what is causing and maintaining your sleep problems. You will be asked to keep a sleep diary as this is a useful way of tracking progress and identifying any areas for improvement. You will also be given tools and techniques to implement at home as part of your new sleep routine.
Is is guaranteed to work?
There are a variety of factors which can affect the outcome of therapy, including your situation and the level of rapport with your therapist, but most important are your motivation and participation. To be successful, you will need to make changes and follow the advice given in your sessions.
Both CBTi and Hypnotherapy have a good track record in helping people to overcome their sleep problems and restore a natural sleep pattern, with improvements often being experienced within 4 to 6 weeks. However, the key to success is you, so you need to play your part too.
