Insomnia Treatment
Struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep? You're not alone, and you're not out of options. Insomnia affects millions of people, but effective, research-backed treatment is available. At CBTAA, we specialize in treating insomnia using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), the leading evidence-based approach to helping people sleep better without relying on medication.
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What Is Insomnia?
Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that makes it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, or return to sleep after waking too early. Occasional restless nights are normal, but when sleeplessness becomes chronic, it can affect nearly every part of your life. Chronic insomnia impacts your mood, memory, immune function, and overall health. It’s linked to higher risks of depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.
Insomnia can be short-term, lasting a few days or weeks during periods of stress or transition. For others, it becomes a long-standing problem, often tied to anxiety, lifestyle factors, or co-occurring health conditions. Either way, lasting insomnia requires targeted treatment to resolve, not just a temporary fix.
How is Insomnia Treated?
Many people turn to over-the-counter or prescription sleeping pills as their first line of defense. While these medications can provide short-term relief, they often don’t address the root causes of insomnia and may come with side effects like dependence, grogginess, memory issues, or rebound insomnia when you stop taking them.
Today, medical guidelines recommend Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) as the first and most effective treatment for adults with chronic insomnia. CBT-I is a structured, short-term therapy that teaches you how to change the thoughts and behaviors that keep you awake, helping you restore natural, healthy sleep patterns.
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What is CBT-I?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia focuses on the connection between how we think, what we do, and how we sleep. CBT-I helps people identify unhelpful beliefs about sleep, understand the habits that interfere with rest, and learn strategies to promote more consistent, restorative sleep.
Unlike medications, which offer temporary symptom relief, CBT-I addresses the underlying causes of insomnia. Treatment is typically delivered in six to eight sessions, during which a trained therapist helps you develop new sleep habits and manage anxious thoughts around bedtime. For most people, the benefits of CBT-I not only improve sleep but also last long after therapy ends.
How CBT-I Works
CBT-I combines cognitive, behavioral, and educational techniques. One major component is cognitive restructuring, which helps you identify and challenge thoughts that fuel anxiety around sleep. For example, believing you “must” get eight hours of sleep or panicking about functioning the next day can make falling asleep even harder. CBT-I helps reframe those thoughts and reduce the pressure to sleep, making it easier to relax.
The behavioral side of treatment includes tools like stimulus control, sleep consolidation, and relaxation training. Stimulus control teaches your brain to associate the bed only with sleep by encouraging you to get up if you’re awake for more than 15 to 20 minutes. You return to bed only when you feel sleepy, breaking the cycle of lying awake and growing frustrated.
Sleep restriction limits your time in bed to match how much sleep you’re actually getting, gradually building a stronger connection between being in bed and being asleep. Over time, as your sleep efficiency improves, your time in bed is slowly extended. In some cases, sleep compression, a gentler version of this technique, is used, particularly with older adults.
Relaxation training is another core element of CBT-I. Many people with insomnia experience racing thoughts, muscle tension, or restlessness at night. Techniques such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, or guided imagery can help calm both mind and body. These methods promote the body’s natural relaxation response, making it easier to fall asleep.
Sleep hygiene education is also part of CBT-I. You'll learn how factors like caffeine intake, alcohol, screen time, irregular routines, and bedroom environment affect sleep quality. With this insight, you’ll be able to make small but powerful adjustments to support long-term changes in your sleep habits.
Why CBT-I Is Better Than Sleeping Pills in the Long Run
Sleeping pills can be effective during temporary crises, like grief or extreme stress, but they’re not designed to solve chronic insomnia. While medications may help you fall asleep, they don’t treat the root cause of your sleeplessness. Over time, they can become less effective, and they may create new problems, such as dependency or morning grogginess.
CBT-I, in contrast, helps you rebuild your relationship with sleep. It empowers you with lifelong skills, so you’re no longer reliant on medication or quick fixes. Clinical studies show that CBT-I is often more effective than medication in regards to long-term outcomes. For people concerned about dependence, side effects, or pills that stop working over time, CBT-I offers a more sustainable and empowering path to recovery.
Who Benefits from CBT-I?
CBT-I works for a wide range of people, including those with long-standing insomnia and individuals experiencing sleep problems due to stress, anxiety, depression, or chronic illness. It’s also helpful for people adjusting to life transitions like parenthood, caregiving, or medical recovery.
Research has shown CBT-I to be effective in populations that are especially vulnerable to insomnia, such as veterans with PTSD, cancer survivors, pregnant individuals, and people going through menopause. It’s also suitable for adolescents, young adults, and older adults. If you’ve tried sleep aids or lifestyle changes and still find yourself struggling, CBT-I is a proven next step.
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When to Seek Treatment for Insomnia
Sleep issues are more common than most people realize. According to the National Sleep Foundation, around 30% of adults report experiencing insomnia symptoms, such as trouble falling or staying asleep. And the National Institutes of Health estimates that 6 to 10% of adults meet the criteria for chronic insomnia, meaning their symptoms persist for at least three months and interfere with daily functioning.
It’s normal to have trouble sleeping once in a while. But when sleepless nights become the norm rather than the exception, it may be time to seek help. Insomnia isn’t just frustrating—it can affect your mood, focus, health, and overall quality of life.
While occasional sleeplessness is normal, ongoing insomnia can take a real toll on your mood, energy, focus, and overall well-being. It’s not something you need to push through on your own.
You may benefit from professional treatment if:
- You regularly have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking too early
- You lie awake for hours despite feeling tired
- You feel exhausted or unrefreshed when you wake up
- Sleep problems are affecting your mood, work, or relationships
- You’ve tried sleep aids, relaxation techniques, or lifestyle changes without lasting success
- You worry about sleep every night, and it’s becoming a source of stress
- You notice increased anxiety, irritability, or difficulty concentrating during the day
- You feel stuck in a cycle of poor sleep that’s hard to break
If any of these sound familiar, we’re here to help you overcome insomnia. CBT-I can help you reset your sleep, reframe the way you think about rest, and build long-term habits that support better nights and brighter days.
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How Insomnia Treatment Works at CBTAA
At CBTAA, we take a personalized, evidence-based approach to insomnia treatment that helps you get to the root of your sleep challenges, not just mask the symptoms. Your care begins with a comprehensive intake session where we review your sleep history, lifestyle, and any co-occurring health concerns. Often, we’ll ask you to keep a short sleep diary to help identify patterns and guide your treatment plan.
From there, you’ll meet weekly with a CBT-I-trained clinician over the course of six to eight weeks. You’ll learn to reframe unhelpful thoughts, reset your sleep habits, and practice proven techniques that support long-term, restorative rest. Between sessions, you’ll be encouraged to apply what you’re learning, whether that’s adjusting your bedtime routine, tracking your sleep, or testing out new relaxation strategies.
CBTAA is proud to offer some of the highest-quality CBT care in the country. Our clinicians receive continuous training and mentorship from nationally recognized experts and are experienced in treating both insomnia and related conditions like anxiety and depression. We tailor each treatment plan to your unique needs, with the goal of helping you sleep better, and feel better, long after therapy ends.
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Ready to Sleep Better?
You don’t have to live with sleepless nights, daily fatigue, or the frustrating cycle of sleep aids that just don’t work. At CBTAA, we help people reclaim their sleep through compassionate, research-backed therapy that delivers lasting results.
We offer both in-person and virtual insomnia treatment across New York City, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Schedule your free 15-minute consultation to take the first step toward better sleep.
