Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Specialist

What are the most common forms of CBT?

Stimulus Control

A stimulus is anything that causes a response. The goal of this method is for you to have a positive response when you get into bed at night. It is used for people who toss and turn in bed, unable to fall asleep. When this happens for many nights, you begin to get frustrated. You may even dread bedtime, expecting to toss and turn for hours. Bedtime and even your bed itself are causing you to have a negative response.

Over time, this method helps you to fall asleep more quickly after you get into bed. You begin to have a positive response toward going to bed at night. Instead of being frustrating, it becomes relaxing and restful.

Sleep Restriction

This method sets strict limits on the time you spend in bed each night. This sleep loss will make you even more tired at first. But it will also help you fall asleep faster and wake up fewer times in the night. This gives you a solid period of sleep and a more stable sleep pattern. As your sleep improves, the limit on your time in bed is slowly increased. The goal is to reach the point where you get the amount of sleep you need without reducing the quality of your sleep.

Relaxation Training and Biofeedback

Relaxation training teaches you how to relax both your mind and your body. This helps you to reduce any anxiety or tension that keeps you awake in bed. This method can be used both during the day and at bedtime. It involves training you how to better control the following functions:

• Muscle relaxation
• Breathing
• Mental focusing

Biofeedback may be used along with relaxation training. The process of sleep is more complex than it may seem. It involves such things as your brain, your breathing, your heart and your muscles. Biofeedback teaches you how to raise or lower various signs of how your body is working. You are given the details of certain indicators in your body. Biofeedback can provide details on such things as the following:

• Muscle tension
• Brain waves
• Blood pressure
• Heart rate
• Body temperature
•  

In order to sleep better, you are taught how to change either your muscle tension or your brain waves. You wear a device that signals to you the level of your muscle tension or brain wave frequency. You then try to change that level in a way that will help you sleep. The device uses a gauge, visual images or sounds to tell you how your level is changing.

These methods require you to focus and concentrate in order to see results. Some people may quickly learn the methods in just a few sessions. Others may need many sessions to master the techniques.

Cognitive Control and Psychotherapy

These methods are used to help you identify attitudes and beliefs that hinder your sleep. These negative thoughts involve worries and stress that keep you awake.  

You learn ways to overcome negative thoughts and promote positive attitudes and beliefs. You focus on getting all of your worries out of your system. This helps your mind to be at rest when you go to bed.

Sleep Hygiene Training

This method of therapy is used to correct things you do on a regular basis that disturb your sleep. Sleep hygiene consists of basic habits and tips that help you develop a pattern of healthy sleep. Disturbed sleep will often be caused by more than one thing that you do. To improve your sleep, you will need to improve all of these habits.

You need to learn how to practice good sleep hygiene on a regular basis. This will greatly improve your chance of sleeping well at night.

Learn to develop habits that promote a healthy pattern of sleep. Dr. Thakkar’s goal is to reverse the cycle and gradually bring you back to healthy habits that lead to healthy sleep. Don’t spend another night struggling, call Golden Gate Sleep Centers or use the online scheduling tool to get help.