What treatments work for insomnia?

The good news is that we have very effective, research-based treatments for chronic insomnia. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the American College of Physicians recommend Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) as the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia in adults. I have advanced training in CBT-I through the University of Pennsylvania, as well as additional training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy adapted for insomnia (ACT-I). Having more than one evidence-based approach allows me to tailor treatment to your specific sleep difficulties, personality, and life context.

How are sleep and mental health connected?

Sleep and mental health influence each other in both directions. People with anxiety or depression often struggle with falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking too early. People with insomnia frequently develop low mood and higher anxiety over time.

Sleep plays a vital role in regulating emotions and calming the nervous system. Even a few nights of poor sleep can make you feel more negative, more reactive, and less able to cope with stress. This can create a vicious cycle: heightened anxiety during the day makes it harder to sleep at night, and then the next day feels even harder. Many people describe feeling “tired but wired” – exhausted yet unable to switch off. Stress of any kind can feed this state and lead to more disturbed sleep.

Additionally, research suggests that most people with depression also experience significant sleep disturbance, and that untreated insomnia can increase the risk of future depressive episodes. In other words, poor sleep is not just a symptom. It can help keep mood and anxiety problems going.

Why does it help to treat insomnia directly?

In the past, insomnia was often seen as secondary to anxiety, depression, or medical issues and was expected to improve once the main problem was treated. Newer research shows that it is important to treat sleep as its own target, even when other stresses or health concerns are present. When insomnia is treated directly, people often see improvement in those related conditions as well.

What does treatment with me look like?

I begin with a careful assessment of your sleep patterns and habits, daytime fatigue, and any anxiety, low mood, health issues, or life stresses that may be affecting your nights. From there, we create a personalized treatment plan using CBT-I and ACT-informed strategies. This often includes gently adjusting your sleep schedule, changing habits and environmental factors that perpetuate insomnia, learning ways to alleviate the struggle with sleep, and building skills to calm the nervous system and respond differently to worry and self-criticism related to sleep. Because insomnia, anxiety, and mood are so interconnected, focusing directly on your sleep in a structured, evidence-based way often improves many areas of emotional life.