Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnias-View Presentation

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Kelly Schaefer, a psychologist and associate professor at the University of Virginia, presents on cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI). She explains that insomnia affects a significant portion of the adult population, but only about 6-12% meet clinical criteria. Essential diagnostic criteria include lasting insomnia over three months, affecting daytime function, and dissatisfaction with sleep quality. Chronic insomnia usually results from a combination of predisposing factors (e.g., genetic, gender) and perpetuating behaviors (e.g., spending excessive time in bed, negative sleep beliefs). CBTI aims to cut these perpetuating factors and recondition sleep patterns.<br /><br />CBTI includes behavioral strategies like sleep restriction and stimulus control, cognitive restructuring to address maladaptive sleep beliefs, and relapse prevention. Sleep restriction involves aligning sleep opportunity with actual sleep ability to consolidate sleep, while stimulus control targets conditioned arousal by establishing specific bedtimes and wake times.<br /><br />Despite CBTI's efficacy, its accessibility is limited due to the scarcity of specialists. Digital health interventions, such as internet-delivered programs, offer scalable alternatives to increase accessibility. Kelly highlights digital CBTI's effectiveness, advocating its broader application. She concludes the session by discussing the relationship between insomnia and suicide risk, urging that effective insomnia treatment can reduce this risk, and addresses questions about digital CBTI programs and their insurance coverage.

Keywords

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia

CBTI

insomnia

sleep restriction

stimulus control

digital health interventions

Kelly Schaefer

University of Virginia

insomnia treatment