How Can We Help - Treatment Approaches
At Sleep Health Center, we have board-certified providers who are experts sleep psychology, health psychology, and clinical psychology. Each of these specialities provide a range of unique services discussed below. In addition to the services mentioned below we also assist in the managment of many other chronic health conditions. This is not an exhaustive list of all services provided. If what you are seeking help with is not listed, please contact our office to inquire about how we may be of help.
Sleep Psychology
The field of sleep psychology involves the application the bio-psycho-socal model to the evalution and treatment of sleep disorders. Our sleep psycholgy program uses a specialized assessment process to quickly identify the most likely diagnosis and then developes an individualized treatment approch to assist in getting to the core of your sleep challenges as quickly as possible. Whether you want to learn how to get more sleep, better quality sleep, managment shift-work, or treat a sleep disorder, our sleep psychology services may be of help. Sleep Psychologists common interevention strategies include:
Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Insomnia (CBT-I):
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the American College of Physicians (ACP) recommend Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) as the first line treatment for chronic insomnia. CBT-I is a very effective, short-term, and scientifically proven treatment. CBT-I is commonly completed in 6 treatment visits. CBT-I is tailored to each patient and has been shown effective for those individuals ranging from adolescence to later adulthood. Participating in CBT-I is like going to sleep school. You will learn how the sleep system works and how to apply the science of sleep to allow your sleep system to function optimally. Through this process you will learn about what makes you vulnerable to insomnia and how to manage these vulnerabilities. You will generally meet with your provider every 2-weeks to review your sleep logs, discuss contributing factors, and then apply what you learn to improve your sleep.
Chronotherapeutics for Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorders:
Chronotherapeutics involves making changes to your sleep and wake times to reset your biological sleep clock in order to maximize health benefits and minimize adverse effects. Commonly used chronotherpeutic approaches include scheduled light exposure, activity/inactivity, and meal times to facilitate movement of the circadian rhythm in the desired direction. It may also involve short-term use of a low dose of melatonin taken at a specified time to promote circadian movement or adjustment to schedule changes.
Cognitive Behavioral Treatment of Nightmares (CBT-N):
Cognitive Behavioral Treatment of Nightmares is a first-line treatment approach for nightmare disorder. Through CBT-N you will be guided through a process to facilate a "reprogramming" of your nightmares which results in a significant reduction in the fequency and intensity of dream content.
Cognitive Behavioral Management of Hypersomnia:
There are many reasons why you are tired all the time (hypersomnia). Although the most common contributor to sleepiness is not getting enough sleep, it may also suggest an underlying sleep disorder. Common sleep disorders associated with hypersomnia include sleep apnea, circadian disruption, and/or narcolepsy. Our thorough evalution process seeks to identify the specific factors contrituting to your sleepiness and to provide individualized guidance to get to the root of your sleepiness. The cognitive behavioral managment process then systematically addresses each potential factor to help you understand what you need to do to feel you best througout the day.
PAP Desensitization for Claustrophobia:
PAP desensitization involves learning how your anxiety response system works, developing relaxation techniques, and systematically applying these techniques to enable you to overcome your PAP related anxiety.
Clinical Health Psychology
Clinical Health Psychology involves application of the bio-psycho-social model to the evaluation and treatment of chronic medical conditions. The goal of health psychology evaluation and treatment is to identify all the things you can do to improve your ability to live a high quality life despite your medical condition. Health psychologists are experts in development of individualized treatment plans for managemetn of conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic pain, headache, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and tinnitus.
Health psychology also believes that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. As such, health psychlogists provide preventative services such as smoking cessation, "Type A" personality rehabilitation to provent burnout, and weight loss assistance. Examples of strategies used by health psychologists are listed below:
Relaxation Training and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy:
Relaxation Training involves development of an understanding of how your sympathetic nervous system works, identifying triggers, and learning relaxation techniques. Mindfulness is defined as the capacity to intentionally be in the present moment without judgement. Two of the main mindfulness based approaches, which aim to cultivate mindfulness therapeutically include Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). MBSR is a structured, manualized treatment program originally developed for the management of chronic pain and now used widely to reduce psychological morbidity associated with chronic illnesses. MBCT, derived from MBSR, was designed for people with a history of recurrent depression to help prevent future recurrences and is now being applied to help manage many chronic health conditions. The goal of treatment is to reduce your reactivity to stressors, better control anger, and improve recognition/management of anxiety.
Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for Chronic Pain (CBT-CP):
CBT for pain management (CBT-P) has three basic components. The first is a treatment rationale that helps patients understand that cognitions and behavior can affect the pain experience and emphasizes the role that patients can play in controlling their own pain.
The second component of CBT is coping skills training. Training is provided in a wide variety of cognitive and behavioral pain coping strategies. Progressive relaxation and cue-controlled brief relaxation exercises are used to decrease muscle tension, reduce emotional distress, and divert attention from pain. Activity pacing and pleasant activity scheduling are used to help patients increase the level and range of their activities. Training in distraction techniques such as pleasant imagery, counting methods, and use of a focal point helps patients learn to divert attention away from severe pain episodes. Cognitive restructuring is used to help patients identify and challenge overly negative pain-related thoughts and to replace these thoughts with more adaptive, coping thoughts.
The third component of CBT involves the application and maintenance of learned coping skills. During this phase of treatment, patients are encouraged to apply their coping skills to a progressively wider range of daily situations. Patients are taught problem solving methods that enable them to analyze and develop plans for dealing with pain flares and other challenging situations. Self-monitoring and behavioral contracting methods also are used to prompt and reinforce frequent coping skills practice.
Biofeedback Training:
Biofeedback is the process of gaining greater awareness of many physical functions primarily using instruments that provide information on the activity of those same systems, with a goal of being able to manipulate them at will. Some of the processes that can be controlled include heart rate, skin conductance, skin temperature, and muscle tension. In biofeedback, you are connected to electrical sensors that help you receive information (feedback) about your body (bio). Biofeedback may be used to improve health, performance, and the physiological changes that often occur in conjunction with changes to thoughts, emotions, and behavior. Eventually, these changes may be maintained without the use of biofeedback equipment. Biofeedback has been found to be helpful with anxiety, pain, headache, bruxism, and other stress related health conditions.
Clinical Psychology
When most think about psychologists, clinical psychology is generally what they think of first. Clinical psychologists apply the bio-psycho-social model to the evaluation and treatment of mental health problems including anxiety and depression.
Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for Anxiety and Depression:
CBT is a first-line treatment approach for a variety of emotional disorders. Our providers have specialized training the application of cognitive and behavioral principles to the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, depression, specific phobias, and other emotional disorders commonly seen in those expereincing sleep disturbance.
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Flexible appointment options include office visit appointments and/or telehealth appointments.
