Improved Sleep

The average adult human requires 6-8 hours of sleep every night. Unfortunately, modern Canadians often fall below this requirement line.

Losing sleep has a long list of adverse side effects, including:

Fatigue
Headaches
Loss of appetite
Weight loss
Antisocial behaviours
Mood swings
Missing work
Healing issues
Memory impairment
Brain fog

At the Cognitive & Interpersonal Therapy Centre, we strive to help our fellow Canadians overcome insomnia and other sleep disorders with sleep therapy.

What is Sleep Therapy?

Sleep therapy is a cognitive behavioural therapy designed for those who have insomnia. Sometimes referred to as CBT-I, this therapy works on the premise that your internal thoughts and emotions have a drastic impact on your external self, including your ability to sleep soundly.

Sleep therapy takes place over five bi-weekly sessions, where you learn to change sleep habits and improve sleep long-term. Treatment for sleep disorders is empirically supported and often used in place of, or combined with, prescription medication to solve sleeping disorders. At the Cognitive & Interpersonal Therapy Centre, we have found that our sleep therapy improves sleep patterns in up to 80% of those receiving treatment. Sleep therapy also has a greater impact on regulating sleep than medication alone.

Creating a Custom Sleep Plan

Your sleep therapy plan is created based on your current needs and triggers. Before you begin sleep therapy, you will work with one of our sleep therapists to develop a plan that’s right for you.

To get started, your sleep therapist will ask you to list the thoughts and feelings you experience during sleeping hours and keep a schedule of your sleep times, successes, and failures. This is also an excellent time to develop achievable short and long-term goals, including:

Falling asleep on time
Sleeping 7 to 8 hours a night
Sleeping every night at the same time for a week

And any other goals you would like to include in your plan. These customized programs are tailored to ensure you receive the help you need to be successful long after your sleep therapy has ended.

What Will Your Sleep Therapy Program Look Like?

At your initial appointment with your sleep therapist, you will go through a comprehensive assessment, which helps our therapist better understand current sleep patterns. This may help you discover previously unknown reasons for your sleep disorder or symptoms affiliated with your inability to sleep.

At the Cognitive & Interpersonal Therapy Centre, we work hard to encourage trust and honesty between therapists and patients. This allows for a more relaxed and natural approach to sleep therapy.

During your sessions, you can expect the following:

Session One: During your first session, following your sleep assessment, you will learn to keep a sleep diary. This is a collection of times you fall asleep and wake up, thoughts and feelings experienced during those waking hours, perhaps dreams you remember which could help deduce the emotions you feel when you cannot sleep and other important information. You will also create a sleep schedule and learn stimulus control to better moderate sleep patterns and reduce stimulus in your sleeping environment.
Session Two to Four: The following sessions work on cognitive restructuring. This helps you understand why you feel the emotions you do and how they impact your sleep routine. You will learn stress reduction techniques to self soothe during sensations of anxiety. Learning independent coping mechanisms is a great benefit for those with sleep disorders as it allows you to deal with problems as they occur and relax during moments of heightened stress. Your therapist will go over the process of troubleshooting your new skills should any of them not work the way they do in your sessions.
Final Session: At your final session, you will develop new life habits. These are small changes to your everyday lifestyle and routine, which may be impacting your sleep schedule. These lifestyle habit changes are meant to encourage maintenance in the new stress reduction techniques and cognitive restructuring routines you have learned in earlier sessions.

Therapy for sleep disorders is a long-term solution for insomnia and offers the potential for longer, higher quality sleep and without the need for prescription medication. As a positive effect of treatment, you will notice changes in other cognitive disorders or psychological ailments, such as depression, anxiety, and stress.

Outcomes of Sleep Therapy

Your sleep therapy outcomes are unique to you and include a wide assortment of ongoing benefits. As you work with your sleep therapist and develop a successful sleep strategy, you will see many improvements, including:

Greater ease of falling asleep
Maintaining regular sleep routines
Higher level of focus and alertness
Fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress
Reduced physical symptoms like headaches
Greater sense of self
Increased self-esteem
Ability to self soothe and cope with emotions independently

Your growth within this program will encourage changes in your social and emotional wellbeing, as well as your sleep quality. You may notice that you have higher levels of focus at work or school, that you feel greater energy levels for exercise, or simply making it through the day with much more ease. The longer you practice the skills learned in sleep therapy, the more natural they will become in your regular daily and sleep routine. If you have a partner, it may be beneficial for them to follow the same sleep routine to support you in your efforts.

Contact the Cognitive & Interpersonal Therapy Centre

If you experience sleep disorders and are looking to improve your sleep routine without medication, we can help. The Cognitive & Interpersonal Therapy Centre is a Toronto-based clinic serving Canadians across Ontario and the country. We pride ourselves on helping our fellow Canadians reclaim their lives by developing the behavioural, mental, and social coping skills needed to modify negative thought patterns and manage stress independently.

For more information on our services, we invite you to contact the Cognitive & Interpersonal Therapy Centre today. Reach out by calling 416-570-5050 or e-mail us at info@citcassociates.com.