CBT for Insomnia (CBT-I)
A short, structured program that looks at the habits, thoughts, and timing around your sleep, and helps you adjust them little by little, so that falling asleep and staying asleep can get easier over time.
Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is a version of CBT designed for people who have trouble sleeping. It looks at sleep together with the things around it: when you go to bed and get up, what you do when you can't sleep, and the thoughts that tend to come up at night, like worrying about tomorrow or about not sleeping at all. Over several sessions, a practitioner helps you keep a simple sleep diary, adjust your sleep schedule step by step, get back to linking your bed with sleep rather than lying awake, and work with the racing or anxious thoughts that can keep you up. CBT-I is one of the most studied approaches for long-standing sleep difficulties, and it's often recommended as a first option to try before, or alongside, other kinds of support. It's offered by psychologists, therapists, and other practitioners with sleep-specific training, and some people work through it with the help of a structured app or online program alongside their sessions.
A structured program that works on the habits and thoughts that can keep sleep challenging.
What to expect: Most programs begin with a conversation about your sleep history, your daily routine, and anything that might be affecting your nights, along with a sleep diary you keep for a week or two so you and your practitioner can see your actual pattern. From there, sessions usually build on each other: you might set a consistent wake-up time, adjust how long you spend in bed so that the time you're there is more likely to be spent sleeping, change what you do when you can't fall asleep, and practice ways to calm racing thoughts at night. It's fairly common for sleep to feel a little harder in the first week or two of schedule changes before it starts to improve, and your practitioner will usually check in on that and adjust the plan with you. Many programs run somewhere between four and eight sessions, often a week or two apart, and some are offered in small groups or online.
Good fit for: You'd like a structured, time-limited program with clear steps to follow, You're willing to keep a sleep diary and try changes to your routine between sessions, Your sleep difficulties have lasted a while and haven't improved with general sleep tips, You're hoping to find something you can keep using on your own once the sessions end
Explore for: Trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up too early that has gone on for weeks or months, Waking in the middle of the night with racing thoughts, Feeling tired during the day, even when you've spent plenty of time in bed, Worry about sleep itself, or a sense of dread as bedtime gets closer, Wanting a practical, step-by-step approach that you can keep using on your own afterwards
Not the right fit if: You suspect another sleep condition, such as loud snoring with pauses in breathing, restless legs, or falling asleep suddenly during the day, which is worth talking through with a doctor first, You're looking for open-ended talk about life more broadly rather than a program focused on sleep, Your schedule makes it hard to keep consistent sleep and wake times for a few weeks, for example with rotating night shifts, You have a health condition where less sleep in the short term could be a concern, and haven't yet talked with your doctor about it
How to choose a practitioner: Ask about their specific training in CBT-I, since it's a distinct protocol and not every CBT practitioner works with it Ask how many sessions they usually suggest and what each one tends to cover Ask how they handle the early weeks if sleep feels harder before it gets easier Ask whether they work alongside your doctor, especially if you take sleep medication or another sleep condition might be involved Ask whether they offer sessions online or in a group, if either would make it easier for you to stick with
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