What does sleep therapy involve?
Together, with the help of chronotherapy, light therapy, CBT-I, and relaxation techniques, we can find the optimal way to unravel the problem and create a feasible therapy plan. The goal of sleep therapy is to provide the client with sufficient tools and knowledge about sleep and about themselves in order to overcome sleep difficulties. To do that I follow a specific protocol characterized by different components.
- Psychoeducation
- Evaluation
- Therapy plan
Psychoeducation: During the first few sessions, I will introduce you to some tools that will help with the scientific and subjective evaluation of your sleep quality and rhythms and explain in detail how the sleep rhythm is regulated in the brain and why different external or internal processes, like light or anxiety, can affect sleep quality.
Evaluation: You will answer a few questions, sometimes in the form of standardized questionnaires, which will help personalize your therapy plan. We will do an evaluation of your sleep/wake rhythm by actigraphy, which is a method of monitoring human rest/activity cycles. Using an actigraphy watch sleep, light and body temperature are monitored in order to have a full image of your personal sleep/wake rhythm and adapt your therapy plan accordingly. Actigraphy has been shown to be one of the most accurate indicators of sleep quality.
Therapy plan: Furthermore, we will plan the steps of the therapy and evaluate the underlying reason(s) of the sleep problem. Further sessions maybe needed for cognitive reprocessing of ideas and beliefs that may be influencing your stress and alertness levels, and to find ways of relieving stress and anxiety.