
Insomnia
Sleep is the anchor of mental health wellness. Everything starts to unravel if you are not sleeping. And the more elusive sleep becomes the more hopeless and frustrated you feel.
Sleeplessness is usually the result of a combination of factors. Stress, anxiety, hormones and/or diet are just a few factors that could be keeping you awake. But also there is another piece to the insomnia puzzle and that is often overlooked and that is your relationship with sleep. You see, overtime insomnia can create a spiral of preoccupied thoughts about the anticipation of not sleeping. Which then tends to make insomnia worse. This is called the "insomnia spiral".
We help clients end insomnia by using therapies that quiet the mind, nourish the body and support lasting quality sleep habits. These include dietary changes, fitness routine, sleep hygiene and talk therapy. For some this is all it takes. But for others, a systematic program is needed. We use a very specific therapy called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for insomnia (CBTi) which is aimed at ending the insomnia spiral. CBTi focuses on addressing both the thoughts and behaviors that are affecting sleep. CBTi has been shown to work as well as sleep meds and over time it has been shown to work better! (Mitchell et al., 2012).
We also incorporate Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), aka Tapping, as another therapeutic tool to help get insomnia relief. EFT combines principles from ancient Chinese Acupuncture with modern psychology. EFT relieves insomnia by allowing your mind and body to release underlying anxieties and stressors that are keeping you from sleeping.
Just as things unravel from lack of sleep, once your sleep improves everything else quickly gets better! You just may need a little guidance and support to get your sleep back on track. It can happen!