Insomnia

Most people come into therapy for insomnia hoping there is a quick fix that will finally “shut their brain off” and let them sleep normally again. Unfortunately, insomnia is usually much more complex than that. Over time, poor sleep creates patterns in the body and mind that begin to reinforce themselves. People start changing behaviors, monitoring sleep constantly, trying harder to force sleep, sleeping in, avoiding activities, or becoming anxious the moment bedtime approaches. The brain gradually learns to associate the bed with frustration, pressure, and alertness instead of rest. My approach focuses on identifying and reversing these patterns in a structured and practical way through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), which is considered the gold standard treatment for chronic insomnia.

I approach insomnia treatment from both the behavioral and cognitive side because sleep problems rarely exist in isolation. We work to rebuild healthy sleep drive and retrain the brain’s relationship with sleep using evidence-based interventions such as sleep scheduling, stimulus control, behavioral tracking, and targeted cognitive work around anxiety and overthinking. Many people with insomnia become trapped in cycles of hypervigilance where they are constantly monitoring how they feel, predicting poor sleep, or trying to control the night before it even happens. CBT-I helps interrupt those cycles while also addressing the emotional and physiological arousal that often keeps insomnia going. My style tends to be collaborative, educational, and direct, helping clients understand not only what to do, but why the treatment works.

I completed specialized CBT-I training through the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and continue integrating these principles into my broader CBT framework. I try to balance structure with flexibility because no two insomnia cases are exactly alike. Some clients primarily struggle with anxiety and rumination, others with inconsistent schedules, conditioned wakefulness, burnout, or long-standing habits that unintentionally maintain sleep difficulties. My goal is not simply to help someone get a few better nights of sleep, but to help them develop a healthier long-term relationship with sleep so they feel more confident, stable, and functional during the day rather than constantly fighting exhaustion and frustration.