Behavioral Therapy
Behavioral therapy is offered to our patients and primarily managed by our psychiatrist and/or psychologist to help with sleep disorders. Often these approaches focus on lifestyle changes, learning relaxation techniques, setting expectations and achieving goals, and taking control of the situation.
Some of the common therapy techniques include cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), sleep hygiene education, sleep restriction, stimulus control, relaxation training including imagery, progressive muscle relaxation, mindfulness, and guided meditation, imagery rehearsal therapy and bright light therapy.
At the Sleep Medicine Center, behavioral therapy is widely used with patients who have the following sleep problems: insomnia, difficulty tolerating CPAP, circadian rhythm sleep disorders such as shift-work, jet lag, and delayed sleep phase (“night owls”), chronic nightmares, nocturnal eating syndromes, sleep walking, and difficulty sleeping due to PTSD, depression, anxiety or other issues.
- Sleep hygiene
- Sleep diary
- Sleep restriction
- Progressive muscle relaxation
- Stimulus control
- Actigraphy
- Insomnia
- Sleep onset insomnia
- Sleep maintenance insomnia
- Primary insomnia
- Transient insomnia
- Chronic insomnia
- Psychophysiological insomnia
- Desensitization for CPAP / BIPAP therapy
- Circadian rhythm sleep disorders – including advance sleep phase, delayed sleep phase, shift work and jet lag
- Bright light therapy
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Nocturnal eating syndrome
- Sleep enuresis
- Imagery rehearsal therapy for chronic nightmares
- Assessment for depression or anxiety
- Inventories
- Minnesota Multiphase Personality Inventory
- Beck Depression Inventory
- Beck Anxiety Inventory
- Mental status exam
- Inventories
Referrals to a psychiatrist , psychotherapist or pain management specialist can be made to a Washington University physician on the discretion of the behavioral therapist and physician at the sleep center.