This section is dedicated to the behavioral treatments that form the backbone of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. In each chapter we strive to hold your hand just as we would if you were our client. We will help you understand the rationale for the challenging program you are about to start. We will give you very detailed instructions. We will answer the most common questions clients ask us. We will help you anticipate and troubleshoot potential roadblocks. And we will continually remind you to track your progress.
Behavioral change is hard in the best of circumstances, and you may be worn down from months or years or even decades of insomnia. The treatments included in this section do require hard work. They may make you feel even more tired at first. And they work. We would not ask you to do this hard work or take on this discomfort if we had not witnessed the dramatic improvements our clients have had. Nor would we ask you to do this hard work if we knew of an easier, more comfortable way.
We want you to think of this part of your sleep adventure as “working a program.” We are not asking you to commit to these behavioral changes forever. It is enough to commit for right now. In chapter 14 we will help you figure out when and how to phase out your behavioral sleep program.
Look back at the treatment plan you developed using worksheet 5.1. Did you select stimulus control therapy, sleep restriction therapy, or the combination as your core behavioral treatment program? Go ahead and jump to the related chapter now.