Cambridge Sleep Clinic

Are you struggling to fall asleep or with waking during the night and not getting back to sleep? Is this leaving you feeling exhausted and struggling to get through the day?

Can you picture what your life would be like if you were able to sleep better and could wake up feeling rested, refreshed and full of energy at the start of your day?

We will help you sleep using the best evidence-based insomnia treatment called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia.

What is CBTI?

Those who suffer with poor sleep will know that there’s an overwhelming amount of information out there advising us how to improve it. From the many sleep hygiene tips that appear when searching ‘How to sleep better’ on Google, to doctors prescribing sleeping pills, it can be hard to know what to try first and where to turn. However, there is one fix that’s definitively proven by over a hundred clinical trials to work for insomnia. When you have insomnia, it’s not cutting out coffee or taking tablets that will give you a long-term solution, it’s CBT for insomnia or CBT-I.

CBTI is a combination of different therapies – and it’s not the same as sleep hygiene or a counselling therapy. CBTI is a structured programme of tested and proven techniques involving sleep education, stimulus control, sleep scheduling, relaxation techniques and cognitive therapy.

There are two principal components of CBTI – cognitive and behavioural. The cognitive aspects help us manage worries and anxieties related to our insomnia, and the behavioural aspects identify and change the behaviours that we’ve developed, often in response to having insomnia in the first place.

CBTI works by helping you overcome the underlying root cause of your sleep problem. The programme helps you to use your own body clock and your sleep drive to control your sleep pattern so that you never need to struggle with your sleep again. CBTI trains us to use techniques that address factors sustaining sleep problems, such as anxiety or poor sleep scheduling. It also helps us strengthen the connection between our beds and sleeping, helping sleep to become an easier, more automatic process.

How effective is CBT-I?

At least 87 randomized controlled trials (the ‘gold standard’ and the most powerful kind of clinical test) have demonstrated the effectiveness of CBT-I.
These results showed that CBT-I is specifically effective in improving:

• Sleep quality
• How long it takes to fall asleep
• Waking during the night
• Severity of the insomnia

These trials also demonstrated that CBT-I works:

• in both the short-term and the long-term
• for both men and women
• for younger as well as older adults
• whether using sleep medication or not
• whether the insomnia has been present for a short time or decades
• in those with or without other medical or psychological conditions.

CBT-I has also been shown to be as effective as sleeping medications in treating insomnia, but the effects of CBT-I are more durable in the long-term and without the side-effects associated with many sleeping medications.
Essentially, CBT-I has a powerful evidence base and is the ONLY proven cure for insomnia.

It has such a large evidence base proving its effectiveness that it’s recommended as the preferred first-line treatment for insomnia by the NHS as well as internationally e.g. the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the U.S.

Benefits of CBTI

• Feel refreshed in the morning
• Have more energy in the day
• Experience better quality sleep
• Fall asleep faster
• Less time awake in the middle of the night and sleep through the night
• Have confidence in your sleep
• General stress and anxiety management
• Armed with the tools to help your sleep for the rest of your life

Will this work for me?

CBTI treatment is always bespoke i.e. it is individually tailored to you and your own specific sleep difficulty and circumstances. To achieve this, a comprehensive sleep history interview and questionnaire assessment is done in the first session. We also ask you to complete a daily sleep diary during the course of treatment.

We are determined to help you sleep in the way that works for YOU – this targeted, individual approach delivers the best results.

Addressing insomnia isn’t an overnight process, especially if you’ve had difficulties for a long time. This means that without the right encouragement, it can be easy to give up trying to improve your sleep, leaving you feeling isolated and stuck. For this reason, we are committed to providing a guided, supportive experience via our one-on-one, expert-facilitated sessions.

Who we help

We are experienced in successfully helping a diverse spectrum of people, from teenagers, to women going through the menopause, to retired seniors.

Our clients are often high-achievers, entrepreneurs, senior executives, barristers, chief technical officers and creatives. People with demanding roles and great responsibilities, seeking to improve their lives by conquering their sleep difficulties.

Will CBTI work if I have other health or medical conditions?

Yes – we know that CBTI works in many different populations. It is effective for insomnia in people with anxiety, depression, cancer as well as multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, and chronic pain.
Remarkably, it has even been shown to help other co-occurring conditions e.g., CBT-I was found to improve not only sleep, but also improve depression outcomes in patients with both major depressive disorder and insomnia.

Is CBTI suitable for everyone with insomnia?

CBTI is suitable for the vast majority of people suffering with insomnia.

For those with bipolar disorder, seizures or psychosis, there is one component of the programme that is contraindicated. However, in these instances, that component can simply be removed – all the other elements of the CBTI course can be delivered and will still be helpful.

How long until I experience improvements in my sleep?

This varies from person to person and depends on different things such as how long you have had insomnia. Many clients report an improvement within the first few days.

For chronic insomnia, substantial and lasting improvements are often experienced within 4 weeks of the start of a 5-week course of CBTI treatment.

Is there an age limit?

We treat those suffering with sleep issues from teenage years (from 14 years) right through to those in their senior years (80s, 90s, 100s!).

Typical length of the therapy

6-week Insomnia Treatment Course

The first session is a 1.5 hour comprehensive sleep and insomnia assessment, followed by a 5-week course (1 hour per week) of CBTI treatment.

This course includes guided email support plus lifetime access to course materials that are emailed to you after each session. A follow-up review session is available following the course.

As well as the delivery of the 6 sessions, the fee includes additional time required for reviewing your assessment and weekly sleep diary data and planning each of the tailored therapy sessions.

Sleep & Insomnia Assessment (1.5 hours)

This involves a comprehensive sleep history assessment, followed by a questionnaire assessment including a measure of insomnia severity, a daytime sleepiness questionnaire, a mental health questionnaire, medical and medication history, a lifestyle questionnaire as relevant to sleep, and a sleep environment questionnaire. These questionnaires are used as recommended standard practice in NHS insomnia clinics.

Our approach at Cambridge Sleep Clinic

Our approach is compassion-focused and non-judgmental; the sessions are structured, educational, collaborative, and enjoyable.

Why not put an end to your sleep difficulties forever and book an appointment today?
For more information, visit our insomnia and sleep specialist’s profile or her website.