Insomnia

What is insomnia?

I love to answer this question because the medical definition of insomnia is not particularly helpful. It is often defined as trouble sleeping lasting at least a couple weeks. This does not reveal anything about what an insomniac’s experience is like, or what is perpetuating the insomnia though.

Insomnia can be a torturous, confusing and maddening experience. Often there is some kind of incident, or trigger that leads to sleep disruption; it could be a breakup, a sudden loss, a career change, or a move. It may even be hard to identify a trigger if it’s something you have been dealing with for a long time. At a certain point, not only is sleep a struggle, but there is a lurking fear of not sleeping that often only grows the longer someone is faced with this affliction. This is a key distinction between insomnia and sleep disturbance - while everyone has disrupted sleep sometimes, insomnia is rooted in the fear of not sleeping.

How do I recover from insomnia?

I think there is a big gap in the field of therapists who understand how insomnia works and how to treat it. I personally dealt with it for many years, and did not find an approach that worked for me until 8 years later. I now use this approach with my clients and find it is helpful for longterm recovery.

You may have heard of cognitive-behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). While this can be helpful for some folks, for others the rigidity and monitoring can actually increase obsessive thinking and anxiety around sleep. There are also many other approaches that are used to treat insomnia, like EMDR, neurofeedback, and hypnotherapy. Some people might find benefits, but I use a different approach. I support people with insomnia by helping them work through the root fear of not sleeping. Without addressing this, I find it is easy for insomnia to come back.

My approach is based on Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), which is the approach that worked for me. I also integrate psychoeducation about sleep and my understanding of the nervous system from my trauma background. The curious thing about insomnia is that it is a paradox - often the more you try and fix it, the worse it gets. If it doesn’t get worse, the benefits are often temporary with this kind of ‘fix it’ mentality. ACT is really about working through the fear, layer by layer, while being armed with the right information so that your sleep naturally improves again.

If you are struggling with insomnia know that you have not lost your ability to sleep. If you are interested in the possibility of working together, please don’t hesitate to reach out at: kirsten@kirstennoack.com or you can book a free consultation directly here.

I offer 1:1 insomnia therapy for folks in BC, and 1:1 insomnia coaching Canada-wide. You can find out more about insomnia coaching here.