Sleep concerns are the second-most talked about subject in my therapy practice (only anxiety gets brought up more often, and can be closely related). Sleep issues are not only a cause of psychological symptoms, but symptoms themselves. In our modern times, persistent daily routines— how busy we are, how stressed we are, how much multi-tasking we do, how late we’re awake, how many people we live with or near…— can drastically impact our ability to get to sleep, stay asleep, and have quality sleep. Because I’d struggled with sleep myself, as do my clients, my approach to recovering healthy sleep has become a keystone practice.
My SLEEP TREATMENT focuses on 3 TARGETS :
Sleep Routines
Healthy Practices
Sleep Hygiene
In my experience of treating sleep disturbances (and sometimes having them!), Sleep Hygiene, Healthy Practices, and Sleep Routines tend to be the three most important themes to explore. “Hygiene” for sleep refers to the best approaches to optimize one’s sleep environment. These are research-backed, simple to understand concepts, though they may take some practice to implement into a day. Healthy Practices are sometimes obvious and sometimes subtle, and vary based on personality and lifestyle. These need to be discussed at the outset of therapy, and include self-care as well as risk assessment— everything from food, to substances like caffeine, from stress, to late night cravings all include some risk. Identifying your level of risk often takes more than one session. Finally, Sleep Routines integrate knowledge about Sleep Hygiene with habits (your personal risk level) into a daily plan that starts with how you wake, then move, whether you’re able to be outside or not, and ends with your wind-down (unwinding hint: start earlier than you think).
If this treatment plan sounds promising, I’d love to hear from you. Contact me about scheduling (top menu).
Consultations are always FREE.
Chris Doorley, AMFT, offers Humanistic Therapy & Buddhist Psychology online anywhere in California
( NorCal & SoCal Therapy online )