Best Practices in Treating Comorbid Insomnia
Sleep is something we all do, and occasional sleep problems are common. It is understandable then, that we, like our clients, may gravitate towards common sense solutions to sleep problems. For example, sleep hygiene (e.g., refraining from late afternoon or evening coffee) is the most common strategy used by practitioners, but sleep hygiene is not effective for insomnia disorder and is used as the behavioral placebo condition in clinical trials. Insomnia Disorder is highly comorbid in those with anxiety, trauma, chronic pain, and depression, and using ineffective insomnia strategies in these clients will lead to poorer treatment outcomes, symptom recurrence, and of course, the insomnia disorder will remain. Another common mistake is that providers assume that the symptom overlap between chronic insomnia and comorbid conditions (e.g., worry) is the cause of the insomnia. Focusing on worry strategies, ignores the sleep-specific factors that perpetuate chronic insomnia, and does not address insomnia disorder. So what are “best practices” for insomnia disorder? To improve insomnia recovery in clients with anxiety, trauma, chronic pain, and depression, it is essential to treat the specific causes of the insomnia disorder directly. This webinar emphasizes assessing for the causes of comorbid insomnia, learning how to deliver evidence-based strategies that address these causes, and troubleshooting common issues in comorbid insomnia treatment. This webinar will use a combination of didactic Powerpoint slides, experiential exercise and case studies.
All orders include the entire presentation with handouts and a CE test.
Streaming videos and audio downloads will be available immediately after checkout
Mailed CD and DVD formats include the printed handouts and CE test in an attractive portfolio
Objectives
Introduction
- Assessment
- Causes of chronic insomnia
- Sleep regulation
Session 1
- Psychoeducation;
- Stimulus Control
- Time-in-bed scheduling
Sessions 2-4
- Sleep extension
- Cognitive Therapy
- Counter arousal
- Relapse prevention
Implementation issues in Comorbid insomnia
- Case examples in depression, pain, trauma, and anxiety
Topics
Participants will be able to:
- Identify the causes of chronic insomnia in those with comorbid disorders.
- Analyze data from sleep diaries to inform treatment recommendations.
- Identify cases in need of stimulus control.
- Collaborate on a time-in-bed schedule to increase sleep drive and regulate the circadian system.
- Utilize cognitive strategies to modify sleep-interfering thoughts.
- Troubleshoot adherence issues, common in comorbid insomnia cases, e.g., difficulties getting out of bed in the morning.
